Investment prospectus published alongside announcement of first £100m investment in 3,300-home Aviva partnership
Homes England’s National Housing Bank revealed its first investment this morning as it officially opened for business.
The new public financial institution, which is tasked with accelerating the delivery of new homes, was formally launched today at an event in Westminster, which saw the publication of an investment prospectus.
The document sets out the agency’s full range of funding and support, which amounts to a total of £16bn in debt, equity and guarantees.
This morning’s launch event also saw the announcement of the first bank-backed investment, with an initial £100m committed to a partnership with Aviva.
The objective of the partnership is to build up to 3,300 homes for rent in under invested areas of cities, including an initial 300 in Liverpool and Manchester.
Headquartered in Leeds, the National Housing Bank is a subsidiary of Homes England and will be backed by the agency’s expertise. It aims to unlock more than £53bn of private investment over the next 10 years.
Housing secretary Steve Reed said the bank’s launch “underpins a new way of doing things”, promising that it would “rake in billions of pounds of essential private investment to get spades in the ground for half a million new homes”.
Amy Rees, chief executive of Homes England, said the investment prospectus published for the bank was “explicit about the challenges facing the housing system, including affordability, viability, stalled land, constrained finance and delivery risk”.
“Homes England and the National Housing Bank will step in where those market failures exist and help unlock delivery at pace,” she said.
“Our message to partners and investors is a simple one: please get in touch and talk to us. We are open for business and are committed to shaping the right solutions for a place or project.”
Immediate industry reaction welcomed the launch of the bank, with Muse managing director Phil Mayall calling it “a major milestone”.
Mayall said Muse was “excited that the Housing Bank and its new lending products can unlock a new era of placemaking”, while Moda Living planning director James Blakey said it marked “a generational change to how new homes are delivered.”
“The new bank and its funding mechanisms offer an exciting opportunity to create innovative public private partnerships for experienced investors and operators who are focused on delivering new quality rental neighbourhoods at pace and scale with aligned social value programmes,” Blakey added.
No comments yet