Loan Deal Will Speed Up Delivery Of Homes At New AFC Wimbledon Stadium
Agreement is one of the first to be agreed as part of new Government scheme
A £150m Government loan has been agreed to help deliver the 604 apartments being built as part of the new AFC Wimbledon stadium complex on the former Greyhound Stadium in Plough Lane.
The deal is one of the first to be agreed from the £1bn Housing Delivery Fund, which was announced by Communities Secretary James Brokenshire MP last year. Barclays is putting up £90m of the cash, with Government housing accelerator Homes England contributing £60m.
The loan is coming from the Government’s Housing Delivery Fund to Merton Catalyst LLP, a joint venture between housing association Catalyst and developer Galliard, which is building private sale and affordable shared ownership homes as part of a mixed-use development which will also include commercial space, improved public realm and AFC Wimbledon’s new ground.
Housing Minister Kit Malthouse MP said: “Upping our game to build more, better and faster is how we are going to meet our ambition of delivering 300,000 homes a year by the middle of the next decade.
“Innovations are key to unlocking the next generation of homes and our Housing Delivery Fund – a £1 billion partnership between Government and Barclays – is a great example of the new approaches we’re taking to get more homes out the starting blocks.”
Sir Edward Lister, Chairman of Homes England, said: “We promised to form new, innovative partnerships to shake up the housing market and do things differently to accelerate the delivery of new homes, and this partnership with Barclays is doing just that.”
Ian McDermott, Chief Executive of Catalyst Housing, said: “The Wimbledon scheme is a fantastic development, and we were really pleased to help bring more affordable housing to the project. We are delighted to be one of the first to receive money from the Housing Delivery Fund, which supports the development of new homes across a range of tenures.”
The first phase of the residential units is expected to be completed by early 2021.
- The Housing Delivery Fund was set up between Homes England and Barclays Bank to provide £1 billion of loan finance to open up the housing market and help support small and medium sized developers deliver new homes across the country.
June 28, 2019