National Housing Bank launches with £169bn mandate to accelerate regeneration

The UK Government has formally launched the National Housing Bank, a new public finance institution designed to accelerate the delivery of housing alongside large-scale mixed-use regeneration projects across England.

Backed by Homes England, the bank will have the capacity to deploy up to £16 billion in debt, equity and guarantees, with the aim of supporting more than 500,000 homes while unlocking over £53 billion of private sector investment over the next decade.

The initiative is intended not only to boost housing supply but also to enable complex regeneration schemes that combine residential development with commercial, infrastructure and community uses.

The launch is accompanied by a new Investment Prospectus, which brings together Homes England’s funding tools, land assets and technical expertise into a single framework. The prospectus is designed to support delivery across a range of project types, including town centre regeneration, urban extensions and mixed-use neighbourhoods.

The National Housing Bank will focus on addressing key barriers to delivery, including viability challenges, stalled sites and constrained access to finance. This is particularly relevant for mixed-use developments, where the combination of uses and longer delivery timelines can increase complexity and funding risk.

Headquartered in Leeds, the bank will work with developers, housebuilders, investors and mayoral authorities to support place-based regeneration strategies, aligning investment with local growth priorities.

The first investment has already been announced through a £100 million partnership between Homes England and Aviva. The funding will support the delivery of rental housing in underinvested urban areas, forming part of wider regeneration activity in cities including Liverpool and Manchester.

The creation of the bank signals a more interventionist approach from government, using public capital to de-risk projects and attract institutional investment into both housing and mixed-use development.

By combining grant funding, debt finance, equity and land, the bank is expected to support schemes that might otherwise struggle to proceed, particularly those requiring coordinated delivery of residential, commercial and community infrastructure.

The National Housing Bank is expected to prioritise “shovel-ready” opportunities, with a focus on accelerating delivery at scale and supporting the creation of new communities as well as the regeneration of existing urban areas.