New homes for Yorkshire thanks to SME Accelerator loan

Homes England has agreed an SME Accelerator Loan with Yorkshire Homes to develop more homes.

An SME Accerlator Loan is a new type of lending product designed to help small and medium-sized developers build more homes, more quickly.

Yorkshire Homes is a small independent family business based in Yorkshire.

The £3.38 million loan will help to develop a scheme in Thirsk, that will include a mix of 21 affordable and open market homes, and support the firm to purchase land for their next development.

The loan has been made available 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.

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.

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."

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."