First-time developer secures £2.18m for nine-flat scheme
Avamore Capital has provided a £2.18m ground-up development facility for a nine-flat residential scheme, despite the borrower having no previous construction or development experience.
The transaction, arranged through broker Arose Finance, involved several challenges including the site’s location adjacent to a railway line, which required compliance with a Basic Asset Protection Agreement (BAPA). The scheme also includes an unconventional unit mix featuring several five-bedroom apartments.
Specialist lending approach
The deal represents a case where specialist lenders are providing finance to inexperienced developers, a practice that has drawn scrutiny in the wider development finance market. Traditional lenders typically require developers to demonstrate a track record of completed projects before extending credit for ground-up construction.
Kelsey Phillips, head of specialist finance at Arose Finance Limited, said: “This complex nine-flat ground-up development required considerable diligence, collaboration and resilience from all stakeholders. Avamore adopted a pragmatic and commercial approach, looking beyond the borrower’s limited development experience.”
Adam Butler, sales and marketing director at Avamore Capital, said: “While the borrower was new to development and the scheme had a number of complexities, we focused on the overall strength of the opportunity and worked collaboratively with all parties to structure a solution.”
Market context
The facility comes as development finance remains available despite broader pressures in the mortgage and lending sector. Specialist lenders have continued to assess projects on a case-by-case basis, with some willing to support borrowers without established development credentials.
Saif Ali Khichi, underwriter at Avamore Capital, said: “It wasn’t simply about assessing the numbers; it was about understanding the wider context of the project, from the BAPA requirements to the borrower’s lack of development experience and the scheme’s unusual unit mix.”
The transaction demonstrates the continued appetite among specialist lenders to finance residential development projects that fall outside conventional lending criteria, though such deals typically involve higher interest rates and fees to compensate for increased risk.
