HAB, the pioneering Bristol housing business set up by designer, writer and TV presenter Kevin McCloud, is seeking to raise £3m through crowd funding to acquire land for more innovative sustainable housing schemes.
The funding is being sought by HAB Land, part of the award-winning HAB family of companies which includes HAB Housing and which was formed to challenge the way identikit volume housing is built in the UK. 
HAB, which stands for Happiness, Architecture, Beauty, builds housing schemes and neighbourhoods that are underpinned by sound sustainable values.
Since it was established by Kevin McCloud in 2007, HAB has set out to challenge the way volume housing in the UK is being delivered, with a focus on what it describes as environmentally conscious homes, fine architecture and joyful living spaces.
A new mini-bond has already secured more than £600,000 during a pre-launch phase with the initial investments coming from HAB’s family of existing partners and investors.
The mini-bond, which offers an 8% gross AER return over five years, is now open to all investors.
Kevin McCloud, pictured, chairman of HAB Housing and director of HAB Land, said: “The response to our new fund raise from our current investors has been just outstanding and we’re now very excited to open this opportunity to all. As stakeholders in a triple-bottom line business, our investors will be able to see potential returns through social and environmental means as well as gaining a good financial return.
“We’re a team of dedicated, passionate professionals, building innovative housing schemes and changing the way the UK approaches house building. We don’t just build homes; we make streets and neighbourhoods – proper places.”
The mini-bond launch comes off the back of strong recent business successes. Just before Christmas, HAB completed the sale of the final house at its The Acre, scheme in Oxfordshire, while at its Lovedon Fields project, near Winchester, it sold over two thirds of its houses off plan.
HAB is working in partnership with CODE Investing, one of the UK’s leading marketplaces for investment, who have already raised over £84m since their launch in 2013. HAB broke records in its previous crowd funding round – raising 197% of the target before closing.
HAB said this next round of investment provided an opportunity to put money into a business that was changing the way people live.
It said the homes and places it builds aimed to respect the local context and biodiversity; were strongly rooted in history, landscape and the community; and were sustainable, beautiful and a pleasure to live in.
HAB is recognised as a leader in sustainable development, favouring a fabric-first approach to environmental construction with a focus on biodiversity, edible landscapes and sustainable drainage.
It also uses materials and products which have low environmental impact. HAB delivered its first award-winning scheme of 42 homes in Swindon in 2011 and in 2013 it raised £2m towards its growth plans via a record-breaking crowdfund campaign.
It moved its head office to Bristol from Radstock in 2014.
