Loan secured for conversion of Stafford office building
BLEND Network, a property investment platform specialising in funding low-cost housing developments outside of London, has announced its largest deal so far with a £2.3m loan to finance the acquisition and redevelopment of a key Stafford office building into residential apartments.
BLEND Network said the deal represents its commitment to the Midlands, with loans extended by the company to fund low-cost and accessible housing projects in the region now totalling over £3m over the past four months.
The initial tranche of the total loan facility extended by BLEND Network is a £900,000 loan to refinance the property and fund the initial redevelopment works. Image House will be converted from an office building into 23 residential apartments.
Over the past four months BLEND Network has completed funding for four other loans to redevelop existing properties into low-cost housing across the Midlands. Gosford Park, Hipswell and Humber Avenue developments are all located in Coventry, with all three of the developments converting existing properties into Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMO).
Both the Gosford Park and Hipswell projects are led by the same developer, which specialises in HMO conversions in the West Midlands. The fourth development is located in Heanor. The Market Street project in Heanor will involve the conversion of a property into four flats and an upgrade of the ground floor retail units.
Roxana Mohammadian – Molina, chief strategy officer at Blend Network, said: “We are very pleased to have funded five projects across the Midlands, helping to develop much needed accessible housing in the region. We encourage other property developers to contact us as we are keen to fund further projects as our platform lenders have shown a significant appetite to fund such developments.
“Housebuilding throughout the UK is failing to keep pace with population growth in the country’s fastest growing towns, with the lack of accessible housing causing the greatest concern and we are keen to play a strong role in addressing this nationwide issue.”
