Homes England has officially launched the National Housing Bank, a new government-backed public finance institution aimed at accelerating the delivery of new homes and mixed-use regeneration schemes across England. Supported by a comprehensive Investment Prospectus, the bank is set to deploy up to £16 billion in debt, equity, and guarantees, working alongside housebuilders, developers, investors, and local leaders.

National Housing Bank’s role and ambitions

The National Housing Bank, a subsidiary of Homes England, is designed to address the housing crisis by enabling the delivery of more than 500,000 homes over the next decade. It will also support major regeneration projects and unlock over £53 billion of private investment. The bank’s establishment reflects a strategic response to longstanding challenges in housing supply, affordability, and stalled development.

Headquartered in Leeds, the bank will operate with delegated authority to make swift investment decisions, focusing on shovel-ready schemes to ensure rapid progress. It will collaborate closely with Mayors and regional partners through Homes England’s new regional model, enhancing coordination and local leadership involvement.

Investment Prospectus: a unified approach

Alongside the bank’s launch, Homes England has published its Investment Prospectus, a single authoritative document that consolidates the agency’s full range of capital products, land assets, powers, and technical expertise. This prospectus aims to simplify engagement for local authorities and partners, clarifying how Homes England and the National Housing Bank can support housing and mixed-use development pipelines.

The prospectus highlights the agency’s commitment to place-based investment strategies, combining grant funding, debt, equity, guarantees, land, and expertise tailored to local priorities. It explicitly acknowledges systemic challenges such as affordability constraints, viability issues, stalled land, limited finance, and delivery risks, positioning the bank and Homes England as key enablers where market failures exist.

Initial investment partnership with Aviva

Marking its operational launch, the National Housing Bank has announced a £100 million partnership with Aviva, a major UK insurer and Mansion House Compact signatory. This collaboration aims to deliver up to 3,300 well-designed, sustainable homes for rent in underinvested urban areas, starting with an initial 300 homes in Liverpool and Manchester.

This partnership exemplifies the bank’s strategy to attract significant private investment by providing government-backed finance to de-risk projects and encourage innovative delivery models. It also demonstrates the bank’s focus on addressing housing needs in cities where investment has historically been limited.

Leadership perspectives

Housing Secretary Steve Reed emphasised the bank’s role in accelerating housebuilding at scale: “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.” He added that the bank will “rake in billions of pounds of essential private investment to get spades in the ground for half a million new homes.”

Homes England Chair Pat Ritchie CBE highlighted the bank’s responsiveness to sector demands: “The National Housing Bank directly responds to calls from the housing sector, mayors and local leaders to increase the scale and flexibility of available public and private finance for housing and regeneration.” She also noted the agency’s place-based investment approach, combining various financial tools and expertise around local priorities.

Amy Rees CB, Chief Executive of Homes England, described the launch as a “watershed moment” with unprecedented ambition and scale. She outlined the capital available: “Both institutions have up to £46 billion of capital to deploy over the next decade, including £27 billion of social and affordable housing grant, a share of £5 billion for land and infrastructure and up to £16 billion of debt, equity and guarantees.”

Simon Century, Chief Executive of the National Housing Bank, stressed the bank’s proactive and enabling approach: “With delegated authority, we will take decisions quickly and proactively, acting as an enabler, not a barrier, to the market.”

Peter Vernon, Chair of the National Housing Bank, reflected on the bank’s foundation: “Building on this strong foundation and deploying substantial new firepower and flexibilities the Bank will look to build deeper and broader partnerships across the sector to accelerate early delivery as this significant day one investment clearly demonstrates.”

What this means for landlords

The launch of the National Housing Bank signals a significant increase in government-backed investment aimed at boosting housing supply and regeneration projects. For landlords, this could translate into a greater availability of new rental homes, particularly in areas previously underinvested, such as Liverpool and Manchester.

By unlocking private investment and supporting mixed-use developments, the bank’s activities may also stimulate improvements in local infrastructure and community amenities, enhancing the overall rental market environment. Landlords should monitor opportunities arising from the bank’s partnerships and funding schemes, as these could influence future housing availability and market dynamics.

Looking ahead

The National Housing Bank represents a strategic shift in how public finance supports housing delivery in England. Its combination of significant capital deployment, partnership working, and place-based investment aims to overcome persistent barriers in the housing market. As the bank moves swiftly to back shovel-ready projects, it will be an important driver in meeting the government’s target of delivering 1.5 million new homes this Parliament.

Source: Based on reporting from Homes England and the National Housing Bank

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