Close Brothers Property Finance (CBPF) is celebrating 50 years of lending to SME housebuilders by outlining plans to grow and diversify its loan book.
Since 2020, CBPF has lent more than £5.1bn and has grown its loan book to almost £2bn.
The business intends to increase facility sizes and further diversify the loan book weighting to include more Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) and Build to Rent (BTR) lending.
To support the evolving needs of the market, 2025 saw the launch of a new structured finance team led by Chiara Caldwell.
The new team will facilitate the expansion into the fast-growing BTR and PBSA sectors, helping SME developers gain a foothold in these increasingly competitive areas.
CBPF is currently supporting the development of over 7,350 new homes across the UK. Landmark transactions over the past year include the lender’s first multi-site Revolving Credit Facility (RCF) of £38m to support Fernham Homes deliver more than 400 new homes across six sites; a £48m loan to fund 213 homes in Brent Cross, part of one of Europe’s largest regeneration projects, and a £44m facility to Select Property to support 266 new build-to-rent (BTR) homes in Birmingham.
Phil Hooper (pictured), CEO of Close Brothers Property Finance, said: “At the heart of the business’ success over the past half century is our firm commitment to helping SME housebuilders.
“Greater diversity in housing stock means better quality homes and support for local economies, with SMEs prioritising the use of local supply chains and skilled labour.
“This is not just a milestone year for us – it’s a springboard for the next half century. Against a challenging economic backdrop, we need to be agile as a business and evolve to meet the needs of our clients.
“Expanding our proposition into structured finance, we are better positioned to do just this.”
