EU bank invests record £6bn in UK infrastructure projects

Howard Chapman, Buildingtalk Editor, reviews the record EIB investment in UK transport, schools, hospitals and water supply.

New figures show record European Investment Bank investment in UK

The European Investment Bank lent almost £6bn to UK projects last year, an increase of 10% on 2014 investment.

EIB loans fund vital infrastructure upgrade projects such as important transport links, and new hospitals and schools, water management, plus boosting UK-based research and development work that contributes directly to the growth of the UK economy.

Figures published on Thursday 14 January by the European Investment Bank (EIB) show that investment by the EIB in the UK increased to €7.77 billion in 2015, up 10.8% on the previous year’s lending.

Investment in the UK accounted for 11.2% of all EIB lending into the 28 EU member states.

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne: “EIB investment to help grow our economy is a vote of confidence in the UK and our economic plan”.

UK-based investment from the EIB

• £1 billion loan to Transport for London to finance the upgrading of existing lines and stations on the London Underground plus network of cycle paths
• research, development and innovation (RDI) including support to Rolls Royce for the development of their new line of aero engines
• over €1.5 billion of loans to the UK water sector for improvements to water supply and waste water collection
• campus investment and expansion at Oxford University – the largest ever single loan by the EIB to a university for investment
• construction of several hospitals including a new acute inpatient services hospital near Birmingham and a new children’s hospital in Edinburgh
• school building projects including a series of loans worth in total £247 million to the Priority Schools Building Programme, a government programme to rebuild 261 of England’s schools in the worst condition
• energy efficiency projects throughout the UK, including the largest EFSI-backed loan to-date (€510 million) to support the installation of c. 7 million smart meters for British Gas customers throughout Great Britain