A company set up by Homes England, the NHB has officially launched and made its first act in supporting delivery of new homes, new towns, and regeneration
The National Housing Bank (NHB) is a public finance institution established by Homes England and backed by the government.
The company will work with house builders, developers, investors, and registered providers with leeway for £16bn of debt, equity, and guarantees.
More than £53bn of private investment
Over the next decade, it is expected that the NHB will support the delivery of over 500,000 new homes and allocate over £53bn of private investment to accelerate regeneration and mixed-use scheme delivery.
The Bank is headquartered in Leeds, and the launch of the bank was marked at a Homes England event on Tuesday 31 March.
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.”
The bank has already made its first investment
In partnership with Aviva, the National Housing Bank has pledged to invest £100m to build 300 homes on Brownfield sites in Liverpool and Manchester.
These will be build-to-rent, and the investment is targeting underinvested urban areas in the two cities. There is also scope to scale up to 3,300 homes as funding grows. The first 300 homes will be developed working Place Capital Group.
Simon Century, chief executive officer of the National Housing Bank, said: “This partnership with Aviva is exactly the kind of investment that the National Housing Bank was created for. Bringing together government-backed finance and institutional capital from a Sterling 20 investor, it supports the creation of a new housing delivery platform, working with talented delivery partners with the ambition to deliver at scale. It will unlock brownfield land and deliver high quality, affordable family homes for rent across the UK, starting in Liverpool and Manchester.
“We look forward to the establishment of more platforms like this powered by the National Housing Bank, to bring investment from institutional investors and the private sector into England’s housing market.”
David Epstein, managing director, Aviva Capital Partners, said: “This investment will provide working families with high quality, aspirational rental homes with stable tenancies, supporting urban neighbourhoods across the country to get ready for the future. The partnership is another way Aviva is investing in the UK, working together with Homes England to improve local economies and communities in cities across the country.”
David Smith-Milne, founder and CEO of Place Capital Group, said: “Being appointed as the exclusive development partner is testament to the quality of PCG’s delivery capability and track record, as well as the strength of our development pipeline. Having secured major regeneration projects in Manchester and Liverpool to kick start this investment, we are excited about our continued expansion nationally to deliver much-needed family housing in underserved markets.”
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