Government announces National Housing Bank to help finance home building

Announcing the new institution today, HM Treasury and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government claimed that the bank would also help unlock billions in private sector investment to back the construction of new homes.

According to the Government, the bank will, among other things, work with mayors and local leaders to develop integrated packages of financial support to deliver their housing and regeneration priorities.

It will deploy some of the £2.5 billion in low-interest loans announced at the Spending Review to support the building of social and affordable homes.

The bank will also support SMEs with new lending products and enable developers to unlock large, complex sites through infrastructure finance, the Government said.      

The bank will be a subsidiary of Homes England and backed with £16 billion of financial capacity, on top of £6bn of existing finance to be allocated during this Parliament.

The Government claimed the new organisation, which will be publicly owned, will be able to bring in £53 billion of additional private investment.

The announcement comes a week on from the Government's pledge in the Spending Review to provide an extra £39bn in spending over the next decade to build new affordable homes.

Homes England chair Pat Ritchie said: "Establishing the National Housing Bank, as a part of Homes England, builds on the Agency's expertise at providing a wide range of finance to partners and places to unlock the delivery of new housing and mixed-use schemes."

He added: "The National Housing Bank also responds to calls from the housing sector, mayors and local leaders to increase the scale of available public and private finance for housing and regeneration, provide a broader range of flexible debt, equity and guarantee products, and enable more timely decision making."

Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said: "We're turning the tide on the housing crisis we inherited – whether that's fixing our broken planning system, investing £39 billion to deliver more social and affordable homes, or now creating a National Housing Bank to lever in vital investment."

Kate Henderson, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation, said: "The National Housing Bank is another welcome, innovative initiative from the government and a clear statement of intent on fixing the housing crisis. Alongside the ambitious new Affordable Homes Programme and the long-term certainty provided by the new rent settlement announced at the Spending Review, the £2.5bn low-cost loans for social housing providers will bolster our sector’s capacity to get building. We will continue to work with the government to deliver the truly affordable homes so many people across the country need.”

Adam Carey