MMC gets modular momentum in new Homes England strategy

Last week, Homes England published its new strategic plan to support the government in achieving its commitment to build 1.5 million new homes by the end of the current parliament.

So far, net additions to the housing stock between July 2024 and November 2025 amount to only about 275,600 homes ─ roughly 18 per cent of the total target.

The 35-page plan includes six objectives (see box, below), ranging from boosting overall supply to fostering innovative construction methods, and comes alongside an investment roadmap with financing products and timelines underpinning them.

Complementing these initiatives, the agency has introduced a new operating model that will be led by regional executive directors.

“This builds upon our existing strategic place partnerships and increases closer collaboration with local partners,” explains Alison Crofton, chief property officer at Homes England.

“This way of working will help ensure our skills, expertise, funding and land are aligned to local priorities, and we can tailor our offer more effectively to different places and market conditions.”

One of the highlights of the strategic plan is the introduction of a National Housing Bank, expected to become operational in April 2026, subject to final Treasury approval. It will be a wholly‑owned subsidiary of Homes England. It will be established as a Public Financial Institution.

The bank will be seeded with £16bn of public capital that will be deployed across a suite of loan, equity and guarantee products.

These include SME and accelerator loans, lending alliances that pool risk, senior and mezzanine debt, corporate‑balance‑sheet lending and equity investments.

“[The National Housing Bank] will help to unlock £53bn worth of private capital,” Crofton continues.

“This additional cash will be drawn in by providing risk‑mitigation guarantees and equity‑first investments that make private investors comfortable committing capital.

“We will be providing a prospectus in February, before the launch of the bank, that will look at the products that will be available.”

MMC push

The strategic plan emphasises Homes England’s commitment to innovative technologies and modern methods of construction (MMC), despite its recent financial losses in the sector.

The agency will support MMC and new technologies adoption “by helping partners de-risk new approaches to construction, improve productivity and accelerate delivery”.

Rather than ensuring a pipeline of MMC projects, Crofton says that Homes England will work with the sector to understand what it needs.

“Our intervention may not have to be a pipeline, the market itself may have the pipeline,” she says. “We’ll work with the market through continuous engagement to see what interventions are required.”

To address the chronic skills shortage, the agency is rolling out a new National Housebuilding Council construction skills hub at its Northstowe accelerator site in Cambridge.

The 10-year hub is projected to produce over 2,000 apprentices for the local area, supplying a steady flow of skilled labour for the anticipated surge in building activity.

Early analysis by Homes England suggests the strategic plan’s measures will support the delivery of approximately 280,000 new homes and make land available for almost 400,000 homes over the next five years.

“We are aiming to double agency-supported gross annual completions by the end of this parliament from around 40,000 in 2025/26 to more than 80,000 by 2029/30,” Crofton adds. “That is our ambition, and that is our aim, and that is exactly why we set out a new strategic plan, our investment roadmap and our new regional model of working.

“[This plan] confirms our intention to absolutely maximise delivery and work in partnership with the market to drive economic growth and housing for the future.”