£100m urban investment fund launched
A NEW £100m fund has been launched to finance urban development in the North West.
The European Regional Development Fund has put £50m into the scheme, a figure matched by the Northwest Regional Development (NWDA) agency. It will be managed by the European Investment Bank.
Called the Northwest Urban Investment Fund, it will provide debt, equity and guarantee investment. The NWDA said this will help support sustainable development in the region’s urban areas.
It hopes to make a return on its investment which it will use to support future projects.
NWDA chairman Robert Hough said: “This initiative is an opportunity for the region to put a mechanism in place that will ensure we can prolong the benefit of our ERDF Programme. The Northwest Urban Investment Fund will allow us to invest in revolving funding, in addition to the normal single use grants.
“This investment will be in the form of equity, loan or guarantee. The returns from these investments can be re-used on other projects again, and again, extending the life of our European funding and helping us to maintain a level of physical regeneration during the challenging economic climate.”
The fund is part of the EU’s JESSICA scheme (Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas). It will be open to submissions from April.
