Bridging and development lender, Fiduciam, has set up a new specialist development team with plans to expand its development lending in the UK and Ireland.
It has set a target of £140m for new development, permitted development and conversion lending in 2022.
Fiduciam is increasingly well established in the development finance segment. In 2021 it granted £69m for projects in the UK and Ireland. Total development lending across all markets, including Spain and the Netherlands, reached £243 million in 2021.
Fiduciam has assembled a development team focused on the UK and Ireland to support its expansion in this segment.
The team is led by the head of development finance, Jake McCausland, and consists of five members, including Henry Fisher as portfolio manager and Luca Ciliento as Ireland specialist.
Fiduciam takes a developer-focused rather than a deal-focused approach to lending, and this dedicated team will allow Fiduciam to better support developers throughout the project cycle.
Fiduciam’s development loans range from £250k to £25m with a term of six months to three years and LTVs up to 75%.
Where market liquidity permits, Fiduciam’s products benefit from the advantage of focusing on the aggregate value of all the individual units, rather than the discounted block value, when calculating the LTV.
Fiduciam has further energised its drive into the UK and Irish development finance markets by lowering its interest rates. These now start at just 0.57% PCM for permitted development and conversion loans, and 0.61%. PCM for ground-up development.
Whilst many other development lenders are exclusively focused on the residential segment, Fiduciam also provides development loans for commercial properties.
Facilities are offered to enterprises across the care, hospitality, education, manufacturing, logistics and agri-food sectors. Reduced rates are available for cases that combine residential and commercial elements, such as shop-apartment combinations.
A popular feature of Fiduciam’s development products is the option to reduce the interest rate or provide an equity extraction once practical completion is achieved. These facilities offer the advantages of a development exit facility without the costs of a new loan.
Thomas Reeve, heading Fiduciam’s UK team, said: “With our dedicated development team and a strong focus on this segment, we look forward to assisting many developers across the UK. As the economy emerges from the pandemic, there is substantial pent-up demand for development finance. We are ready to help fill this gap.”
Ken Duffy, heading Fiduciam’s Ireland team, added: “There is an enormous shortage of affordable residential accommodation in Ireland, and many very capable builders and developers find it hard to obtain development finance.
“We are eager to assist these entrepreneurs address this shortage with our Irish development loan offering.”
Jake McCausland, heading Fiduciam’s UK & Ireland development lending, concluded: “At Fiduciam we focus first on the developer and their portfolio requirements, and then consider projects specifics.
“Our new development team will allow us to further support our developers across the project cycle. We hope to grow our book with £140m of new development lending in 2022 through strong relationships, flexible funding structures and market leading rates.”
