Paragon eyes development finance expansion as lender hits £1.5bn mark

Paragon bought Titlestone in July 2018 and since then its development loans to SME housebuilders have resulted in the construction of 13,000 new homes.

Paragon said its next objective was to focus on expanding its lending operation to support housebuilders across England, outside its core southern market.

Over the past 12 months, Paragon has added four relationship directors and portfolio managers to its bringing its staff up to 39.

Paragon Development Finance managing director Robert Orr said: “Our lending activity has gained momentum over each of the three years as we have grown our team and attracted new customers.

“Demand has been particularly strong over the past 12 months and we recently unveiled a 16 per cent increase in our lending for the first half of our financial year compared to last year.

“We remained open and active throughout the pandemic, supporting our customers, and having the backing of the well-capitalised Paragon Banking Group is a key strength.”

Green expansion

Elsewhere in the group, Paragon Bank has expanded its range of green buy-to-let deals with four further advances exclusively available for properties with an EPC rating of A, B or C.

The deals are available up to 80 per cent loan-to-value (LTV) to landlords who have four or more mortgaged buy-to-let properties in England and Wales in their personal names or through their limited company.

Initial fixed rates start at 3.75 per cent and the products are available on single self-contained units as well as houses in multiple occupation and multi-unit blocks over two-year and five-year terms.

All deals are offered with no product fee, no application fee, and a free valuation.