Vistry and Homes England launch £150m joint venture to target strategic sites

Stephen Teagle, chief executive of Vistry Partnerships, said: “By co-investing with Homes England, Vistry [is] upscaling the delivery of mixed-tenure communities.

“Vistry is not just building homes, we’re investing in the future of communities across the UK and supporting our focus on social value, including developing social and affordable housing.

“Our intention is also to pilot selling a proportion of de-risked land parcels to small and medium-sized house builders, helping to increase the availability of land and stimulate growth among smaller developers.”

Homes England’s share of this investment comes from the Home Building Fund. Announced in the Spending Review, this fund dedicates £3bn of additional support to small house builders and was extended by £700m in December last year.

Pat Ritchie, chair of Homes England, said: “As the government’s housing and regeneration agency, one of our key responsibilities is to unlock strategic housing sites by working with both the public and private sector to bring them forward at pace and scale, helping to meet the government’s housing targets.

“This joint venture with Vistry Group will do just that, by targeting large sites capable of delivering up to 3,000 new homes in well-designed communities, while continuing to support [small and medium-sized] house builders in achieving their own growth ambitions.” 

Earlier this year, Homes England also signed a £250m joint venture with US investment firm Oaktree Capital Management and London-based developer Greycoat Real Estate.