John Goodall

Close Brothers Property Finance (CBPF) marks 50 years of lending to SME housebuilders by outlining plans to grow and diversify its loan book. Since 2020, CBPF has lent more than £5.1 billion and has grown its loan book to almost £2 billion. The business intends to increase facility sizes and further diversify the loan book weighting to include more Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) and Build to Rent (BTR) lending. To support the evolving needs of the market, 2025 saw the launch of a new Structured Finance team led by Chiara Caldwell. The new team will facilitate the expansion into the fast-growing BTR and PBSA sectors, helping SME developers gain a foothold in these increasingly competitive areas. CBPF is currently supporting the development of over 7,350 new homes across the UK. Landmark transactions over the past year include the lender’s first multi-site Revolving Credit Facility (RCF) of £38 million to support Fernham Homes deliver more than 400 new homes across six sites; a £48 million loan to fund 213 homes in Brent Cross, part of one of Europe’s largest regeneration projects, and a £44 million facility to Select Property to support 266 new build-to-rent (BTR) homes in Birmingham. https://lnkd.in/eP4_kBF6

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Our new Mortgage Briefing from Rettie shows some improvement in availability and affordability of lending and highlights political reforms to help first-time buyers. But the market remains challenged and mortgage rates of around 4% look like they will be the norm going forward. The average mortgage cost is, however, back under the average private rent cost. In the Scottish PRS, there is a long-running and acute demand/supply imbalance that has fuelled rents in the last decade. Rent controls will be coming forward in 2027 but they are a crude instrument to deal with this. We need more supply. https://lnkd.in/e-m9MVJE #mortages #housignaffordability #interestrates

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MAYFAIR RESIDENTIAL MARKET UPDATE Thoughts and wisdom from the Mayfair Guru “Is it goodbye to the good buys?”   £150M of Mayfair exchanged sales in the last 5 weeks, with sales up to £5M amounting to £83M. Does this highlight that now is the time for the buyers’ opportunities?   Multiple price reductions have seen only a 5% discount from asking price to exchange.   All sales over £5M have been for either repeat sales in new developments or immaculate in 2nd hand period stock and selling between £4,000 to £5,000 psf range.   Sales up to £5M have been mainly unmodernised and in period buildings around £2,250 psf.   Although a limited dataset, Wetherell was the primary instructed agent on 35% market share.   Of the properties currently under offer – only 50% came on in 2025. The longest on the market and now under offer after price reductions have been 8 years / 3 years / 2.5 years or less.   The 2025 under offers have been launched at perceived market prices and went swiftly under offer.   For those with FOMO (fear of missing out) – worry not because there is currently the largest amount of property currently for sale – ever - and with nearly 50% with price reductions.   The challenge for buyers is identifying the market sellers – either new to market at selling prices or bargains to be negotiated on long in the tooth stock.  

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Octopus Capital said it had raised a further £118m (€136m) for its Affordable Housing Fund from three UK local government pension schemes, taking the fund’s total funds under management, including co-investment capital to over £360m. The new investment has come from Strathclyde, London CIV and Avon local government pension schemes. The fund is seeking to help remedy a chronic shortage of social and affordable housing in the UK. https://lnkd.in/e7cG8teT

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Year of growth at Urban Splash Residential Fund Urban Splash UK Residential has reported a period of growth and operational success in its latest results. The fund was established by SURE Capital Partners in 2017 to acquire design-led, sustainable homes in urban regeneration areas across the UK, and recorded a 9.9 per cent increase in portfolio value to £102.6m, alongside a 14.9 per cent rise in turnover to £5.5m.  Operating profit for the year to 31 March 2025 reached £2.8m, reflecting a 21.3 per cent year-on-year increase, while net asset value grew to £94.4m. Like-for-like rental growth for the period was 4.6 per cent, with financial occupancy holding steady at 95 per cent and rental collection at 99 per cent. The performance was said to have been underpinned by a sound investment strategy and a continued focus on delivering high-quality rental homes across UK cities. During the reporting period, the fund entered into a significant new partnership with sustainable developer Citu, formalised by a memorandum of understanding (MoU) worth £200m. The partnership has already resulted in the acquisition of 28 homes during the financial year, with a further 24 homes secured post-year end – a combined investment of £19.5m. Post-year end in May 2025, the fund also announced a new £50m revolving credit facility (RCF) with Barclays, expanding upon a previous £20m facility secured in 2023. This increased capacity positions the fund to capitalise on future growth opportunities and support further acquisition activity. Akeel Malik, partner at SURE Capital Partners LLP, the Fund’s investment advisor, said: "FY25 has been another significant year of growth for us, marked by the establishment of a major strategic partnership with the award-winning developer Citu, with an initial pipeline of 600 homes.  "It means we now own and operate 450 homes with a total investment value of £102.6m. Our differentiated rental offer now spans multiple urban centres including Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Bristol, Cambridge, Bradford and, most recently, Leeds."

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