Housebuilders in £150m boon
HOUSEBUILDERS were among the biggest risers in the FTSE yesterday after the chancellor said the Get Britain Building fund, which provides upfront finance to construction companies, would be expanded.
Shares in Barratt Development jumped 4.42 per cent while Bovis Homes’ shares closed 3.84 per cent higher as the government announced it will increase the fund by £150m to £570m, which will help deliver over 3,000 more homes.
The Homes and Communites agency earlier this week published its shortlisted 224 schemes that could receive a share of the investment pot, which is aimed at jumpstarting stalled development projects.
Meanwhile, the government also announced that it will start consultation on the role Real Estate Investment Trusts could play in the social housing sector within the year.
Under the proposals, social housing associations could convert to Reit status, freeing them from paying corporation or capital gains tax on profits made from property investment.
Peter Cosmetatos, director of finance at the British Property Federation, welcomed the news, saying the emergence of social housing investment trusts would “help stimulate investment in housing at large”.