The Intermediary – March 2025 - Flipbook - Page 6
SPECIALIST FINANCE
In focus
BUILDING
THE FUTURE
CAN SPECIALIST FINANCE BRING PIPEDREAM TARGETS BACK TO REALITY?
Jessica O’Connor
The Government’s pledge to deliver 1.5
By offering flexible deals, regional expertise,
million new homes this Parliamentary term
and faster decision-making, specialist finance is
is, to put it mildly, ambitious. With a stubborn
not just supporting housebuilding – it is actively
planning system, rising construction costs,
enabling it.
and a market that does not always behave as
policymakers hope, many in the industry are
Tantalising targets
already raising an eyebrow at the feasibility of
The mortgage industry has seen its fair share of
this target.
ambitious housing targets come and go. While
While the big-name developers will dominate
million number in the headlines, industry
shaping the UK’s housing future. Beneath the
experts are not convinced that it will translate
surface, specialist finance lenders are quietly
into bricks and mortar.
driving progress, providing the tailored funding
solutions that mainstream banks are too riskaverse to offer.
From bespoke development loans to funding
for modern methods of construction (MMC) and
self-build projects, these lenders bridge the gap
where traditional finance falls short.
Unlike rigid high street banks, specialist
lenders take a pragmatic, project-led approach.
6
the Government may be keen to keep the 1.5
the headlines, they are not the only ones
Chris Gardner, CEO at Atelier, puts it
bluntly: “It is difficult to see how the 1.5m target
will be achievable by the end of the current
Parliamentary term.”
He holds out some hope that building
300,000 homes per year could eventually be
possible, but only if policymakers get out of their
own way.
As it stands, the industry is tangled in a web of
This agility is crucial for small to medium
outdated planning laws, sky-high development
(SME) developers, which are often the
costs, and an ever-growing list of regulatory
most innovative, but struggle to secure
hurdles. The Section 106 and Community
mainstream funding.
Infrastructure Levy (CIL) regimes are particular
The Intermediary | March 2025
