Barratt forms large-scale housing JV with Homes England and Lloyds

MADE Partnership will be master-developer of residential-led developments with between 1,000 and 10,000 homes. MADE is initially backed by £150m equity provided equally by its partners.

The partnership brings together housing giant Barratt, public sector housing and regeneration agency Homes England and Lloyds Banking Group.

Although no specific sites have been named as yet, potential development opportunities will include large brownfield developments as well as “new garden village-style communities” with schemes also including employment land and community facilities.

Work undertaken by the JV will include land assembly and managing planning, delivering primary and community infrastructure, and disposing of serviced parcels of land to developers.

According to the partnership website, the senior team includes group major projects director Stephen Kinsella, who has spent time in senior positions with both Homes England and Barratt, and development director Phil Collings, who also worked at Homes England before joining Barratt in 2022.

With improving housing delivery numbers still very much front and centre of the national agenda following the July General Election, with deputy prime minister Angela Rayner setting higher targets, the partners said the JV will have “the ability to unlock and scale the capital required to bring larger sites into production, enabling both major and SME homebuilders to build the new homes and communities the country needs”.

Housing and planning minister Matthew Pennycook said: “A failure to ensure the development system is working properly has held back the delivery of tens of thousands of new homes over recent years and this Government will work in partnership with all those who are focused on turning things around.

“The landmark new partnership announced today will support our commitment to ramp up housing supply and boost economic growth by developing more large-scale, attractive and sustainable places across the country with the homes, jobs and infrastructure that communities need to thrive.”

David Thomas, chief executive of Barratt Developments, said: “We are committed to playing our part in delivering the millions of new homes the country needs over the next 10-20 years. To help us achieve this goal, we need to deliver more large developments.

“Through the MADE Partnership, we are creating a master developer which can manage the infrastructure and placemaking that is needed to deliver at scale, whilst consistently achieving the high quality and sustainability standards that Barratt is known for.”

Lloyds has been busy in the residential sector. At a more localised level, it has started a programme of developing social housing in its own decommissioned data centres and office space, while it launched a social housing initiative in 2023.

Before that, it set up the Housing Growth Partnership in 2016, which is now backing projects including Torsion’s £53m build-to-rent Hollis Croft in Sheffield.

Charlie Nunn, chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, said: “Our pioneering MADE Partnership between Lloyds Banking Group, Homes England and Barratt Developments has created a master developer – enabling the largest-scale projects and place-based solutions to be achieved, and helping to deliver tens of thousands of new homes which are so urgently required.  This is the cross-sector collaboration we need, at significant ambition and scale.”

“Master developer” situations are not uncommon on large-scale housing growth areas, but more commonly see a single housebuilder or land promoter take on that role, rather than three such heavyweight organisations.

Peter Denton, chief executive of Homes England, said: “MADE Partnership will provide a master developer platform with the ambition and capability crucial for creating not just the homes but the vibrant, diverse places England needs.

“Whether it’s transforming a brownfield site, extending an existing town, or creating a whole new village, the partnership will have the finance, tools, expertise and partners required to ensure a cohesive approach to delivering a fabulous place that people want to live and work.”