£1 billion funding announced for SME builders
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has announced that small and medium sized builders will be able to apply for £1 billion in government funding.
The money will be made available through the British Business Bank’s ENABLE Build Programme. SME builders will be able to apply for the secure loans from participating banks.
Robert Jenrick said: "Small house builders are vital to building the homes this country needs but too often struggle to access affordable finance."
The £1 billion of loan funding will, said Jenrick, allow local builders to "kick-start building, level up the country and turbocharge the housing sector".
Reinald de Monchy, managing director, guarantee and wholesale, British Business Bank, said: "The ENABLE Build programme is a great example of using a cross-government approach to tackle an important, complex issue.
"Working in partnership with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and Homes England to address both access to finance and the UK housing shortage, the ENABLE Build programme will allow us to build on our ENABLE Guarantee's success in supporting smaller house builders that have traditionally struggled to access the funding they need."
The government scheme was first opened for applications in May 2019, and has since received interest from specialist and mainstream lenders such as high street banks.
Information published in the House of Commons has set out when the ENABLE Build scheme will start to provide the guarantee finance and how lenders and house builders can get involved.