Over £500 million pounds of new Government investment for smaller housing schemes will help build up to 15,000 homes and support thousands of jobs in construction, housing minister Kris Hopkins has announced.
The £525 million Builders Finance Fund is intended to accelerate construction on smaller sites. Expressions of interest for the fund, to include investment proposals outlining the delivery plan, can be submitted to the Homes and Communities Agency from mid May.
The new investment will be made available to unlock “shovel ready” sites of between 15 to 250 houses, which have their plans in place and the support of local people, but need help to get development under way. Focus on smaller schemes is expected to benefit smaller firms who typically build on these sites.
A prospectus has been published to help housebuilders prepare their bids.
Mr Hopkins said the collapse of the unsustainable housing boom in 2008 had devastated the construction industry, leading to the loss of 250,000 jobs and a falling market share for the nation’s smaller builders.
“This funding will get workers back on site, support 15,000 jobs across the construction industry, and build thousands of new homes for communities up and down the country, he added.”
The investment will fund locally supported housing. Applicants should have the support of the local community and local authority. Sites must have outline planning consent in place when they submit their bid and must confirm that residential properties financed through the fund will be marketed in the UK.
Support through the Builders Finance Fund will be on top of £1Bn that has been made available to unlock 250,000 homes on large scale developments with over 1,500 units. This scheme is currently open for bids.
