8 INDUSTRY NEWS
Homes England launches campaign to help SME housebuilders get funds
Homes England has launched a new awareness campaign aimed at helping small and medium (SME) housebuilders access funding and expert support. To encourage a “more diverse, vibrant
sector,” the agency is focusing its “We Fund It. You Build It” campaign on helping fi rms access the Governments Levelling Up Home Building Fund.
A recent HBF study found that only 2,500 SME housebuilders are currently active, and delivering 12% of new homes – down from 39% in 1988.
The Levelling p Home Building Fund has been designed to help change this. Administered by Homes England, it provides loans to SME housebuilders to kickstart projects from £250,000 to more than £10m, and is aimed at housebuilders that are struggling to access fi nance from traditional lenders.
Loans can be used to meet development costs of building new homes for sale or rent. The fund also offers fi nancing to support community-led housing projects, serviced plots for custom and self-builders, and offsite manufacturing. Gary Middleton, assistant director, development fi nance at Homes England, said: “Diversifying the housing sector, helping new housebuilders to establish themselves, and supporting mid-sized developers to grow is a key part of our remit. But we know how diffi cult it can be for SME developers to bring their projects to fruition, and that access to fi nance can be one of the biggest blockers they face.” “We have regional experts across the UK that understand the local market and are ready to support SME housebuilders with their project. It is so important that housebuilders know this support exists.” To help raise awareness of how it can help SME housebuilders, Homes England will be sharing stories from a range of developers that have successfully accessed this funding over the next six months.
CASE STUDY: WINDYRIDGE Windyridge Property Investments, which is based in the North West and the Midlands. As a fi rsttime developer, the fi rm experienced numerous funding barriers before receiving support from the Levelling p Home Building Fund in March 2022. With a £1.4m development loan, Windyridge was able to deliver its fi rst housing scheme, Sienna Way, in West Bromwich. Completed in July 2023, Sienna Way meets the latest energy effi ciency standards provides a high
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to bring our fi rst development to market. From the outset I found the experience of working with the team extremely supportive. I was guided with care and consideration through the process and given reassurance at all stages. We are now working on a scheme which will deliver 60 homes – our biggest project to date. We wouldnt have grown as we have without the great partnership we have developed with the agency.”
quality living environment for fi rst time buyers, key workers and young families. atinder Singh Gakhal, managing director of Windyridge Property Investments commented: “As a new SME housing developer, we found securing development funding particularly challenging given the macro-economic factors affecting the construction industry. However, thanks to the team at Homes England, who provided exceptional support and guidance throughout the application process, we swiftly secured a development loan to fully fund our scheme. We look forward to delivering our fi rst sustainable housing development to meet the needs of the local community in the Black Country and strongly recommend SMEs consider Homes England funding to help unlock their future development sites.”
CASE STUDY: V & A HOMES A homes is a familyrun SME developer based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Waterside, a nine home scheme overlooking the river Nidd, was their second Homes England-supported development. The brownfi eld site, a former abattoir, is located on a steep waterside location which required complex groundworks to complete the build. Homes England worked closely with the team at all stages to provide both fi nancial and specialist support. Following the success of Waterside, A homes are now working on their next scheme which will deliver 60 new homes in Sharow near Ripon. Victoria Denman, managing director of A Homes said We fi rst worked with Homes England after agreeing a land deal
CASE STUDY: KINGSWOOD HOMES Kingswood Homes, a mid-sized developer operating in the North West and South West of England, approached Homes England for support after struggling to build a pipeline of sites due to funding constraints. The phased nature of house building projects often means that sites become self-funding after around two thirds of the project have completed, as the builder can use the resulting sales income to repay the debt and meet ongoing construction costs. However, this means it is diffi cult for smaller builders to invest funds in their next project until the last house on a site has been sold. Homes England provided development
fi nance funding on four Kingswood residential schemes before developing an innovative new multi-site loan facility, which allows cash that would normally be used to repay debt, to instead be used to fund future costs, including site acquisitions. With Homes England support Kingswood has grown from 36 homes per year in 2016 to 130 homes per annum and it is anticipated that with continued support to Kingswood, it will remain on track to meet the annual 200 homes target within the next three to four years. Paul Jones, managing director of Kingswood said: “Kingswood has proven that with appropriate fi nancial support, small housebuilders can grow into medium sized businesses and play a role in helping to address the sustainable quality housing requirements set by Government. Homes England has been brilliant in understanding the fi nancial support that we needed in order to deliver that growth and enable Kingswood to potentially access corporate fi nance in future years.” To fi nd out more please contact one of Homes Englands regional specialists by calling 0300 1234 500, emailing them at
fundingenquiries@homesengland.gov.uk or visiting
www.gov.uk/homes-england.
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