Vibrant small development sector is ‘unloved’ by banks – BFS

This sector remains unloved on the banking circuit and many short-term lenders look for bigger deal sizes and more developer experience.

Our view is that the success of these deals rests on the professional team and builders, rather than the individual applicant and we continue to assist clients across the UK in this area.

In addition, we have seen more retired clients wanting to downsize their home.

Often they have identified a perfect home, but have yet to place their own on the market meaning short term funds are required quickly.

Summer stands out as a challenging time of the year for the industry as a whole due to holidays.

In addition the auction houses that we work closely with have a month or two break due to lack of stock and attendees.

Property network meetings also have a summer break and the upshot of all this is that business flow is difficult to gauge.

High yield, high demand

Nationally, it’s no secret that high value single assets in and around London continue to come under huge pressure and indeed certain spots are already experiencing falls.

Our primary area of lending is in the Midlands, through the North West up to the North East, and all three of these regions continue to see robust yet steady growth combined with high yields and demand.

The North continues to steam ahead in terms of developments in the property sector and I would suggest is on a par with movement in the South, the over-riding difference being the size of the deal.

A busy market has meant changes in our team with new members of staff on board in order to meet demand.

It’s good news for the North and there is huge appetite for property, a trend which I don’t see shifting.