Specialist bank receives £150m government guarantee to help small house builders

Shawbrook has already surpassed £2bn of lending to UK property developers, helping to build 8,000 homes. The bank provides complex structured credit facilities for growth-focused businesses, mortgages for professional landlords and property investors, and simple loans for individuals.

The Enable Build programme is open to UK incorporated banks, UK branches of foreign banks, asset and asset-based finance providers, as well as certain other categories of lenders which provide, or intend to provide, development finance to viable small house builders operating in the UK.

Michael Strevens, head of structured guarantees at the BBB, said: “The government’s recent expansion of Enable Build significantly increased the programme’s capacity, and this transaction with Shawbrook continues that momentum.

“We’re delighted to partner with Shawbrook as the third delivery partner for the programme, and look forward to the initial £150m unlocking more finance for smaller house builders to build homes across England and Wales in 2025 and beyond.”

The BBB was established in 2014, and its core programmes support £17.4bn of finance to 64,000 smaller businesses.

Simon Knowles, senior director of development finance at Shawbrook, said: “Partnering with the British Business Bank on the Enable Build scheme is a fantastic opportunity to grow our support for house builders.

“Shawbrook has a proven track record of supporting SME house builders, which are vital in helping meet the ever-growing demand for new homes. This partnership will strengthen the support we can offer across the UK.”

This funding builds on a similar announcement from Home England that it has nearly doubled the funding available in its lending alliance with Invest & Fund for SME house builders.