Cabinet members will be asked to approve a £1.6m investment into a Leeds City Region (LCR) fund, as part of the City Deal it entered into in July 2012, aimed at boosting the LCR economy. 
Members will consider a report committing the authority to enter into a limited partnership with partner local authorities – including Leeds, Wakefield, Bradford, Kirklees, Calderdale and Harrogate – to establish a Revolving Investment Fund (RIF) for key development projects which might otherwise have not come forward due to a lack of access to finance.
The Fund will be maintained and grown by investing in commercially viable projects and leveraging match-funding, to gain the greatest returns with which to reinvest in further projects. Projects that deliver economic growth and are commercial in nature will be considered for investment by the Fund, with Expressions of Interest sought from projects that are seeking investments over £1m.
It is intended that the Fund will be targeted towards asset based construction and housing projects requiring short term or mezzanine based loans. These loans will be provided on a commercial basis lending at state aid compliant rates, with a maximum target return period of five years. A leverage ratio of public to private funding of at least 25/75 will be required. For example, a £5m public sector investment will require a further £15m of private monies as a minimum.
Cllr Williams, Cabinet member for Finance, Performance and Customer Service, said:
“In July 2012 the City Region agreed our ‘City Deal’ with government to help boost jobs, increase productivity and create the conditions for economic growth in the City Region.
“A key part of the City Deal is the creation of a Regional Investment Fund to help facilitate economic growth by supporting commercially viable projects that, due to the current difficult conditions, cannot secure the appropriate finance.
“By investing in commercial development or expansion projects, that would otherwise be stalled simply because of access to finance, jobs can be created and growth in the City Region and therefore York economy can be realised.”
