A major new public finance institution has officially opened for business, with ambitions to unlock more than 500,000 homes and £53 billion in private investment over the next decade. Sites in Liverpool and Manchester have already been secured.
Homes England’s National Housing Bank launched today (1st April) , backed by a new Investment Prospectus that sets out the agency’s full range of funding and support. The bank, a subsidiary of Homes England, has the authority to deploy up to £16 billion of debt, equity and guarantees in partnership with house builders, developers, investors and registered providers.
Headquartered in Leeds, the bank will work alongside mayors through Homes England’s new regional model, aiming to strengthen collaboration with local leaders and accelerate the delivery of new homes, major regeneration projects and mixed-use schemes across England.
The launch was marked at an event in London yesterday, attended by senior sector stakeholders. It comes alongside the publication of the Investment Prospectus, which for the first time brings together Homes England’s full range of capital products, land, powers and technical expertise in a single public document.
The government describes the bank as a vehicle for long-term place-shaping, designed to crowd in private capital and move quickly to back shovel-ready schemes.
The bank’s launch was accompanied by the announcement of a £100 million partnership with Aviva, a signatory to the Mansion House Compact. The partnership aims to build up to 3,300 high-quality, low-energy rental homes in underinvested urban areas, targeting lower to middle-income working families.
The first sites have already been secured in Liverpool and Manchester. In Liverpool, 135 homes will be built on Vescock Street as part of the city’s new town ambitions to improve underdeveloped neighbourhoods. In Manchester, approximately 150 homes will be delivered on Moston Lane (pictured), with more than a third designated as affordable.
The partnership, which will work with Place Capital Group, has an initial commitment of £100 million, with the potential to grow as funding develops. Aviva’s investment is made through its in-house capital unit, Aviva Capital Partners, with Aviva Investors managing the investments.
The bank’s lifetime objective is to support the delivery of more than 500,000 homes alongside a raft of major regeneration schemes, with the ambition of unlocking more than £53 billion of private investment over the next ten years.
Housing Secretary Steve Reed said: ‘Launching England’s first ever National Housing Bank underpins a new way of doing things as we accelerate housebuilding at scale and tackle the housing crisis head on.
‘Now open for business, the Bank will rake in billions of pounds of essential private investment to get spades in the ground for half a million new homes. This is just one of the many levers we’re pulling to make sure we reach our 1.5 million target this Parliament.’
Amy Rees CB, Chief Executive of Homes England, added: ‘The launch of both the National Housing Bank and Homes England’s Investment Prospectus are a watershed moment and mark an unprecedented scale of ambition and investment to deliver homes and regeneration across the country.
‘Both institutions have up to £46 billion of capital to deploy over the next decade, including £27 billion of social and affordable housing grant, a share of £5 billion for land and infrastructure and up to £16 billion of debt, equity and guarantees.’
Photo: MCAU
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