Government launches National Housing Bank

The government has launched a National Housing Bank to speed up housebuilding and deliver more than 500,000 new homes.

The bank will be publicly owned as a subsidiary of Homes England and as a “permanent institution”, supported by £16 billion of financial capacity as well as £6 billion of existing finance to be allocated this parliament. It will, according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), leverage in £53 billion of additional private investment, creating jobs.

Homes England, the national housing and regeneration agency, will be able to issue government guarantees directly as well as a wider range of debt and equity products.

MHCLG said the financial support would aid SME housebuilders, allowing them to “grow their businesses more rapidly”, while enabling other housebuilders to complete “large, complex sites” via infrastructure finance.

It added that the government agency could now become a “consistent partner” to the private sector with its long-term, flexible capital.

Homes England would have “greater autonomy and flexibility to make the long-term investments that are needed to reform the housing market and deliver strong returns”.

The National Housing Bank is also set to “significantly scale up” investment into partnerships that …