British Business Bank agrees £100m increase of ENABLE Build Guarantee facility

The British Business Bank has increased its existing ENABLE Build facility with United Trust Bank (UTB) by £100m.

This builds on the existing £250m transaction agreed in April 2021, bringing the total facility to £350m.

To date, UTB have provided more than £830m of funding to smaller housebuilders through the ENABLE Build programmes. This transaction will allow UTB to boost lending by a further £700m to these businesses and potentially support the creation of around 3,800 new homes across England and Wales.

The British Business Bank’s ENABLE Build programme directly supports banks wishing to fund smaller housebuilders, a sector that has traditionally struggled to access the finance it needs. The programme is designed to encourage additional lending to smaller housebuilders by reducing the amount of capital held against such lending by the participating banks.

UTB was incorporated in England in 1955 and established itself as an independent specialist bank, mainly providing development finance to smaller housebuilders as they tackled the post-war housing shortage.

The Bank has grown substantially over the last 20 years and now offers a variety of secured funding solutions to housebuilders and developers, smaller businesses and consumers. In October this year, UTB’s loan book exceeded £3bn for the first time.

Reinald de Monchy, managing director, Guarantee and Wholesale Solutions, British Business Bank, said “We are delighted to have agreed an increase to this ENABLE Build facility, which further strengthens our commitment to helping unlock finance for smaller housebuilders.

“This increase will allow UTB to supply even more development finance loans to help housebuilders deliver homes and create more jobs to boost the UK economy.”

Adam Bovingdon, Head of Property Development, United Trust Bank, commented: “Our relationship with the British Business Bank and our involvement in the ENABLE Build Guarantee programme has helped us to provide SME housebuilders with the funding they need to create thousands of new homes, often during challenging economic periods.

“UTB is committed to supporting the resurgence of the SME housebuilding sector and this additional £100m guarantee will be set to work straightaway.”

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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