Funding deal to deliver more than 250 homes across two sites

Business bank OakNorth has provided a further £12.2m loan to housebuilder, honey, to part fund the acquisition and development of two of its latest major residential schemes.

The housing schemes in Huddersfield and Maltby will provide a combined total of 252 new homes for the region.

The Maltby site, consisting of 185 detached and semi-detached homes, will also include 46 affordable properties.

honey’s new Huddersfield site will comprise 67 detached and semi-detached homes, including 13 affordable units and is situated in Fenay Bridge.

Founded in October 2022 by former Avant Homes CEO, Mark Mitchell, honey is backed by private equity provider, Alchemy Partners, which specialises in investing in debt and equity special situations across Europe.

Mitchell said: “With the launch of honey just under 18 months ago, I’m pleased my vision of building new homes that deliver a combination of style, substance and sustainability continues to be realised.

“We’ve seen a constant high demand on all our sites to date and given the high quality of the units and the close proximity to major commercial towns and cities, we expect demand for our new schemes in Maltby and Huddersfield to be no different.

“Having now worked closely with OakNorth on six separate occasions, they’ve really cemented themselves as a funder of choice that continues to provide all the solutions to the pain points we normally face when working with the larger lenders.”

Damien Hughes, senior director of property finance at OakNorth, added: “Despite only launching in October 2022, Honey has quickly built-up an impressive reputation for offering a unique way to build homes that successfully combines style, substance and sustainability for the benefit of all its customers.

“We continue to believe in the vital role SME housebuilders play in benefiting local communities and economies, and are thrilled that we were able to provide honey with six individual bespoke debt facilities.

“We look forward to strengthening our relationship with Mark and his team moving forward and also look forward to supporting honey on more residential projects in the future.”