The English Cities Fund, a public-private joint venture between the UK's dedicated land and homes agency Homes England and property firms Legal & General and Muse Developments, is doubling in size to £200 mln (€223 mln) to take on large-scale regeneration projects in English towns and cities.
The fund is currently delivering five schemes in England worth £1.6 bn from an initial investment of £100 mln.
It was set up in 2001 and has delivered 850,000 sq ft (79,000 m2) of office, retail and leisure space to date. It has built 1,300 homes with a further 2,210 homes still in the pipeline, alongside 820,000 sq ft of new commercial development.
In total, its schemes have secured over £800 mln of third-party investment, including from property companies, institutional investors and the public sector.
Michael Lyons, former chair of the BBC Trust and chair of the English Cities Fund, said: 'We want to partner with ambitious local authorities and other public bodies who want to attract investment, build homes and support enterprise. Together we can create exceptional places.'
The expanded fund will focus principally on projects which have a gross development value of over £100 mln.
The fund typically partners with councils and other public sector organisations who are landholders, promoters or stakeholders in regeneration areas.
