Barclays is teaming up with Homes England to provide £1 billion in finance to help build thousands of new homes across England.
The deal will put the cash into the Housing Delivery Fund that will then support small and medium-sized businesses to develop homes for rent or sale. That will include social housing, retirement living and the private rented sector, while also backing innovative projects involving brownfield land and urban regeneration.
Loans will range from £5 million to £100 million, and developers and house builders are encouraged to bid for finance to deliver projects that will diversity the housing market. At the moment almost two-thirds of new homes provided in England are built by just 10 companies.
Right finance to meet need
John McFarlane, chairman of Barclays, launched the fund, saying: "There is a vital need to build more good quality homes across the country. This £1bn fund is about helping to do exactly that by showing firms in the business of house building that the right finance is available for projects that help meet this urgent need.
"We are very pleased to be working with government to get the country building more homes, more quickly."
Housing Secretary James Brokenshire welcomed the collaboration, emphasising the government's priority in increasing the number of homes being built in England. The target is 300,000 new homes every year by the middle of the next decade.
Fantastic opportunity for innovation
Mr Brokenshire added: "This is a fantastic opportunity to not only get more homes built but also promote new and innovative approaches to construction and design that exist across the housing market."
The Housing Delivery Fund was set up by Homes England, the government agency established last year to improve housing across England. Its chairman, Sir Ed Lister, said its remit was to play a more active role in the housing market and to increase how quickly new, better quality homes are delivered.
He added: "The Housing Delivery Fund demonstrates Barclays' commitment to the residential sector and will provide a new funding stream for SME developers to help progress sites and deliver more affordable homes across England."
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