Homes England’s current ‘We Fund It. You Build It’ campaign aims to raise awareness that small- to medium-sized (SME) housebuilders can access funding and expert support via the Levelling Up and Home Building Fund.
The government fund is designed to help housebuilders who are struggling to access finance from traditional lenders, to support the SME market. It offers the opportunity to have a funding package tailored to the company’s needs, to support development costs with loans from £250,000 to over £10 million. This includes financing to support community led housing projects and serviced plots for custom and self builders.
Naturally there are criteria to qualify, but the Levelling Up Home Building Fund can help if you:
- are a UK-registered corporate entity or limited liability partnership
- plan to build 5 or more homes on a site in England
- have a controlling interest in the land, with outline planning permission in place
NaCSBA founded the group Housing Diversity, made up of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), the House Builders Association, the UK Cohousing Network, the National Community Land Trust Network, to lobby for more housing choice, acknowledging the fact that custom and self build and community led housing are all delivered by SME house builders. As such self build provides a valuable route to market for these SME businesses, as well as the gamut of other SME companies that deliver trades, materials, technologies and professional services to this market.
Knowing the scale of decline for SME housebuilders over the last 40 years, Homes England believes that SME housebuilders are key to delivering growth in the house building sector, with the Levelling Up Home Building Fund designed to support this.
The FMB reports that SME house builders are responsible for delivering just 12% of new homes, a decline from 39% since 1988, with the FMB’s House Builders’ Survey 2023 finding that 42% of small house builders were held back by access to finance.
Although not directly linked to custom and self build, there are case studies on the government’s Levelling Up Home Building Fund pages.
You can get in contact with Homes England about an application on 0800 1234 500 or fundingenquiries@homesengland.gov.uk
Words: Duncan Hayes
