Demand for funding sets new records at North West firms
Two North West funding organisations have reported strong growth throughout the difficult trading conditions of 2020.
Specialist Bolton property finance company, PMJ Capital, has reached a significant milestone – delivering more than £50m in lending.
Over the past six months alone the lender has seen enquiry levels increase by more than 80%, having looked at bridging and development deals worth in excess of £75m across the North West and beyond.
Managing director, David Rainford, said: “2020 was extremely challenging for the industry, however, we remained incredibly active working with our longstanding developers, entrepreneurs and introducers across the region on some exciting projects.
“We also welcomed a number of new clients and funded schemes in new areas away from the North West including Yorkshire, Derby and the North East.”
He said December was one of the busiest months in the firm’s history, with deals still completing right up to Christmas Eve which took PMJ to the £54m mark, which he described as “a fantastic accomplishment for the team”.
PMJ Capital was launched in 2015 by accountancy and advisory practice Cowgills, alongside P&MJ Wright Holdings.
Completions throughout 2020 included providing Beluga Projects with a £180,000 funding package to cover planning and option costs for a 52-unit BTR apartment scheme in Sheffield; an £800,000 funding line to Arbor Living on the second phase of a retirement village in Lymm; and more recently a £1.35m loan for the third and final phase of Waypoint Development and Construction’s scheme in Casterton, Kirby Lonsdale.
Meanwhile, the team at Liverpool-based Hope Capital recorded a 291% increase in bridging loan completions for the 12 months to December 2020 versus the previous year, growing the loan book to its largest point to date.
Despite several months of lockdown and a pause in lending due to Covid-19, new enquiries were at levels unseen previously with cases rising by 135% on 2019.
The demand from brokers and borrowers has been met with the launch of several new innovative bridging loan products.
First came the Hope FleXi product, followed by the Custom Collection in June and the sought-after Seventies Collection in September.
More new products have been launched in January 2021 and there are plans in the pipeline to launch additional bridging finance options throughout the year.
Managing director, Gary Bailey, said: “We are very proud of what we achieved in 2020. There is no doubt the year was very challenging for the industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown measures, however, we weathered the storm and worked extremely hard to continue to provide the same exceptional service to brokers and their clients, which resulted in us achieving exceptional outcomes.
“The feedback and response we have received from the new product ranges has been fantastic. 2021 will, undoubtedly, present new challenges, however, we are looking forward to providing bespoke and fast solutions to support our brokers and existing and new clients.”
