Finance firm’s deal enables completion of ‘green’ housing project

Passivhaus scheme in South Lanarkshire

A Manchester finance provider has funded the first development of eco-friendly Passivhaus houses in South Lanarkshire.

Roma Finance has backed the scheme, which has a gross development value of £2.5m.

Passivhaus buildings provide a high level of occupant comfort while using very little energy for heating and cooling.

They are built with meticulous attention to detail, rigorous design and construction according to principles developed by the Passivhaus Institute, and can be certified through an exacting quality assurance process.

The designs are common in Northern Europe and Roma Finance said it is thrilled to be part of the project to promote them in Scotland, built by Avongreen Abodes.

The site in South Lanarkshire had planning for four four-bedroom detached houses.

When Roma took on the application for Avongreen Abodes, the first property had already sold and the remaining build comprised of two wind and watertight new build homes and a fully serviced plot with south facing views over a county park.

The low energy build is impressive and boasts some exciting technology designed to make the houses as self-sufficient as possible:

When the case came to Roma Finance, Avongreen Abodes had already completed the sale of the first house for £610,000, on target.

Another two houses were at that point, wind and watertight and the final plot had all services connected. The borrower needed to exit their development loan onto a more cost effective bridging loan to complete the remaining houses for sale.

The second property then sold with a sale price of £620,000. Roma Finance lent £550,000 to redeem the existing development loan and provide further funding to complete the remainder of the build.

Roma said the case is a great demonstration of its flexibility as the valuation was not straightforward. The valuer was unable to support the sales prices because there was no direct comparison with them being Passivhaus builds.

This may have posed a problem for many lenders, however, Roma was able to ‘take a view’ on the case and make a good decision for the customer in the name of innovation.

Nick Jones, Roma Finance commercial director, said: “We pride ourselves on leading the charge and being forward thinking. These houses are full of innovation, look fantastic and truly are properties of the future.

“Avongreen Abodes have really set the bar high for sustainable properties moving forward and I am really excited to see what they come up with next. We are thrilled to have been able to fund this build and hope to support more sustainable properties in the future.”

Denise Bryson, Avongreen Abodes director, said: “The interest rates with our previous lending company were absolutely eye-watering and we could no longer continue to work with them. Roma Finance helped us to navigate our way through a refinance with much more competitive interest rates.”

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