That not enough social housing has been provisioned is a problem that has been with us for a long time. Are we about to see things turn around? There are a couple of important news pieces that Ewgeco (suppliers of the housing industry’s in home energy display of choice) has heard in recent weeks.
The first bit of good news that should see a major impact on house building in Scotland centres on some major investment.
Carduus has secured significant investment from leading sustainable growth investment company Bridges Ventures. Carduus is a Scottish company founded in 2011, with the objective of becoming the leading provider of finance to Housing Associations or Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) in the country.
Rory Maw, Partner at Bridges, said: “There is clearly a pressing need for new housing in Scotland and the Carduus team has been working very closely with Scottish RSLs to develop innovative financing solutions, which can play an important role in driving growth across the sector. They have already made good progress in all fronts and we see them having a real impact on new house building in Scotland.”
More information about the investment can be found on the Scotsman’s website, where the story was originally reported. http://www.scotsman.com/scotland-on-sunday/business/bridges-backs-carduus-venture-1-2359356
Further good news for the industry came from the government, which has lowered the threshold for sites applying for the Get Britain Building Fund to 15 homes, down from 25, giving smaller builders across the UK the chance to bid. The programme, for developers facing difficulties accessing development finance, is designed to unlock 16,000 homes by March 2015. The threshold has been lowered because over £100 million has remained unclaimed. A new round of bidding is open and expressions of interest must be submitted by noon on July 25th 2012. More information can be found on the Homes and Communities Agency website – www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/get-britain-building