• Swindon & Wiltshire Property
• Monday October 5 2026

8,500 homes could be unlocked across the West

Up to 8,500 homes could be unlocked across the West of England through £450 million of targeted public investment, according to new research by global real estate adviser CBRE.

The analysis argues that “recoverable risk capital” could bridge viability gaps on stalled residential schemes across Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire, helping homes proceed where elevated build costs and constrained values have made development unviable.

Nationally, the proposed model could support up to 200,000 additional homes, more than 70,000 jobs and nearly £6 billion of GDP by 2031, CBRE says.

It positions the approach as a framework for the Government’s National Housing Bank, which has up to £16 billion of debt, equity and guarantee capacity and opened for business in April.

CBRE estimates the West of England would need £450 million of recoverable public risk capital to unlock 8,500 homes, with Bristol expected to deliver the bulk of the pipeline. It says the region offers one of the most cost-efficient rates of return for such intervention anywhere in England.

James Blundell, senior director at CBRE Bristol, said the region’s ambition was clear but warned that planning ambition alone would not deliver homes.

“With a 40,000-home new town under consultation at Brabazon, the ambition to build in the region is real,” he said. “But a masterplan isn’t the same as homes on the ground, and with 35,000 families still waiting for social housing today, the risk is that viability pressures squeeze out the affordable homes long before the new town delivers.”

He added: “Our research shows £450 million of recoverable risk capital could unlock 8,500 homes here, with Bristol delivering the bulk of them, at one of the most cost-efficient rates of any region in the country.”

The findings come as the West of England continues to press the case for Brabazon (pictured) and the West Innovation Arc to be designated a new town.

The scheme, spanning South Gloucestershire and north Bristol, could deliver up to 40,000 homes and 40,000 jobs over coming decades, with the combined authority estimating a £20 billion economic boost.

CBRE’s warning is that, without intervention, viability pressures could reduce affordable housing provision before the wider new-town programme begins delivering at scale.

It argues that the National Housing Bank could use its financial capacity to mobilise both public and private capital, providing a route to unlock housing in high-demand areas such as the West of England.