Taylor Wimpey (TW), Grainger (GRI), Quintain Estates (QED) and market newcomer Crest Nicholson (CRST) are among 43 property companies short-listed to benefit from up to £1bn of state-backed loans for the construction of private rented homes.
The government announced a £200m 'build-to-rent' fund as part of a package to boost housebuilding last autumn, following a recommendation by City grandee Sir Adrian Montague. The idea was that developers would receive cheap debt - the interest rates offered will start at 2.06 per cent - in exchange for building homes specifically for the private rented sector. The government wants institutional investors to buy the developments, thus mobilising a substantial new pool of capital to boost the nation's housing supply.
The initial £200m fund was heavily oversubscribed, so the chancellor expanded it to £1bn in last month's Budget. As many as 45 schemes have been short-listed and will now proceed to the due diligence stage. If approved by the Homes & Communities Agency, they will receive in aggregate £700m for the construction of between 8,000 and 10,000 homes - leaving £300m for a second bidding round later this year. The list reads like a roll-call of the nation's biggest developers, including most of the listed housebuilders, some developers with a residential focus and various housing associations.
