Bid to entice institutions into investment in housing

The Homes and Communities Agency is in talks with groups such as Legal & General about the way for institutional investors to build social housing. Gordon Brown is keen to find ways to increase the amount of housing, and a new public-private fund with the HCA putting equity into schemes and offering rental guarantees for the first two years of ownership is expected to be announced around the budget on 22 April.

The HCA delivered about 50,000 affordable homes in England and increased rental and low cost home ownership in the past financial year. Its latest accounts show it invested £3.9 billion on housing and regeneration.