Levelling Up Home Building Fund - development finance
If you're building homes for sale or rent, we can provide finance from £250,000 to cover development costs.
Applies to England
What the fund supports
We want to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and innovative developers and housebuilders to build more homes more quickly and to create great communities.
We also want to encourage innovation, both in the kind of homes that are built and the way they are delivered. Examples of innovative projects you might need funding for could include:
- serviced plots for custom and self-builders
- off-site manufacturing
- new entrants to the market
- community-led housing projects
- groups of small firms working together to deliver larger sites
If you need loan funding for infrastructure and enabling costs to prepare land for homes, you can also apply for an infrastructure loan from the Home Building Fund.
Eligibility for finance
You may be eligible for finance if:
- your project is financially viable
- you are planning on building or refurbishing 5 or more homes on a site in England (refurbished units must be uninhabitable at the point when you apply)
- your project would stall, or progress much less quickly, without this finance
- you are a UK-registered corporate entity or limited liability partnership (LLP)
When we make a finance offer, you will normally need to have a controlling interest in the land and a clear route to achieving planning consent.
We cannot fund projects where:
- there are new leasehold houses
- leasehold flats are charged more than a peppercorn (ie nominal) ground rent
How the fund works
All our lending needs appropriate security and loans are typically secured against property assets.
The Levelling Up Homes Building Fund offers finance from £250,000. We will also consider smaller loans for innovative housing solutions.
Note that:
- typical terms are up to 5 years
- interest is payable at transparent, commercial, pre-agreed variable rates
- sales income from the homes sold can be recycled to minimise the loan request
- we will consider subordinated lending
- we will discuss eligible costs with each applicant - these depend on the type of funding requested
Talk to us if you have a viable scheme that offers innovative housing solutions - such as modern methods of construction (MMC) or custom build - and needs development funding outside of the parameters above.
Funding partnerships
The fund predominantly provides loan finance, but we will also consider other forms of financial support and have supported several partnerships. For example:
- we are an investor in the Housing Growth Partnership, which provides equity capital directly for residential development projects
- we have an investment partnership with Barclays to provide residential development debt funding to build more homes more quickly. For more information, contact 0800 015 1921
- we support the Housing Accelerator Fund, a 5-year alliance with the United Trust Bank to improve financial support for the building activities of small and medium-sized housebuilders and developers
- we have partnered with Invest & Fund, who provide construction loans of between £400,000 and £2.5 million. Invest and Fund will support applications below the Levelling Up Home Building Fund’s minimum of 5 units
If the eligibility criteria change
The Levelling Up Home Building Fund’s eligibility criteria may be updated from time to time to reflect government priorities. Should changes to the eligibility criteria be required we would not be obliged to consult with you about them.
How we prioritise applications
As a government-backed initiative, the Levelling Up Home Building Fund reflects wider government priorities. We are looking for, and will approve, applications based on:
- the best value for money for the taxpayer
- the greatest potential for early delivery
- projects that support policy priorities such as:
- strengthening the SME developer market
- greener homes that support net zero carbon
- diversification and innovation in the housing market
Funding decisions
Any funding decision we make to you under the fund may be changed or withdrawn by us until we have completed due diligence and signed agreements with you. We advise you not to make business decisions assuming your application will be successful - you should wait until we have signed agreements with you.
Homes England has responsibility for managing the fund and our lending decisions are final.
How to apply
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Contact us online through our enquiry form, or by email, phone or post.
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If you meet our criteria, one of our investments team will help you apply.
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We allocate you a dedicated transaction manager.
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You receive our funding decision and confirmed price.
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We complete due diligence and sign the agreement.
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You build the homes.
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You repay the investment.
You will need to tell us about your development plans and business finances as part of our decision-making process.
Contact us by email
fundingenquiries@homesengland.gov.uk
Contact us by phone
Telephone: 0300 1234 500 (option 3)
Contact us by post
Levelling Up Home Building Fund
Homes England
Windsor House
42 to 50 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0TL
Related information
‘Know your customer’ guidance
Documents we may need to see about you and your company.
Costs of a loan
We will apply interest rates to the loan at commercial rates. We will also charge you an arrangement fee.
Read how we use credit scoring to assess your creditworthiness and collateralisation.
Financial crime compliancy: policy statement
Information about our anti-money laundering, anti-fraud programmes and zero tolerance approach to bribery and corruption.