The Social Investment Business is closing the Futurebuilders Fund to new applicants following a big rise in demand for finance from sector organisations.

The organisation, which is chaired by Stephen Bubb, said it had received £60-90m worth of enquiries since June last year.  It said it had reached capacity and has stopped accepting new applications while it reviews existing commitments and applications.

Since the Futurebuilders Fund was established in 2004, it has received thousands of applications and made over 370 investments. Some £120m of the £215m fund had already been allocated by the old Futurebuilders board, leaving new CEO Jonathan Lewis and his team £95m to disburse.  They did away with application forms in 2008, instead requiring applicants that met stringent initial criteria to pitch, Dragon’s Den-style, to an investment panel.

During the first nine months of 2009 the Fund provided loans and grants to help applicants bid for and deliver more than 230 public sector contracts worth over £46.2m.

Stephen Bubb said the heightened demand demonstrated the sector’s appetite for loan financing, and that the government should “get cracking” and set up the Social Investment Wholesale Bank.

Jonathan Lewis (pictured), added that it now had a “proven model that can deliver social investment on a large scale, investing for social as well as financial return”.