Homes England has agreed an SME Accelerator Loan – a new type of lending product – with Yorkshire Homes, a small independent family business based in Yorkshire.
The £3.38million loan will not only help Yorkshire Homes to develop a scheme in Thirsk – that will include a mix of 21 affordable and open market homes – it will support the firm to purchase land for their next development.
Zach Cribb, Director at Yorkshire Homes, said
The Accelerator Loan is a game changer for SME housebuilders like us. Currently, limited market funding options force SMEs to work site by site, completing one project before starting another. This new financial flexibility will enable us to secure land ahead of time, creating a consistent pipeline of development rather than stop-start projects.
The loan has been made through the Home Building Fund, which was backed by an additional £700 million from the government last year, and supports the government’s mission to build 1.5 million homes this parliament by enabling SME housebuilders – a vital part of the housing delivery sector – to scale up and deliver more homes at pace.
The innovative Accelerator Loan provides development finance alongside a second loan to fund land acquisitions for follow-on sites. This helps small and medium sized developers (SMEs) to grow and invest by providing the flexibility and confidence to work on multiple projects simultaneously, rather than completing one development at a time.
Simon Century, Chief Investments Officer at Homes England, said
Small and medium sized housebuilders are absolutely crucial to the government’s mission to build 1.5 million homes in this parliament.
The SME Accelerator Loan has been designed to provide the certainty and flexibility that SMEs need to grow their housebuilding activity and contribute to achieving that target.
This loan to Yorkshire Homes is one example of Homes England’s commitment to supporting those developers with ambitions to grow their development pipelines and it’s fantastic to see a family-run business being given the support to do so.
The Home Building Fund has already helped hundreds of SME developers accelerate house building across England, with development loans typically offered between £2 million to £10 million.
Financial support for the sector will be strengthened further with the launch of the National Housing Bank, a subsidiary of Homes England, in April 2026.
ENDS
Home Building Fund Developer Case Study Yorkshire Homes
Notes to editors
-
The Home Building Fund offers flexible finance solutions to SME housebuilders of all sizes, from those building as few as five homes per year to developers completing up to 1,999 homes per year.
-
To find out more and apply, email [email protected] or visit www.gov.uk/homes-england