"This scheme is a good example of the importance of having an experienced relationship lending team who can evaluate a project, however complicated it may seem"
- David Alcock - Blend
Specialist development finance lender, Blend has announced that it has provided a £2.6m senior debt facility to assist with the conversion of a Grade II Listed building in the village of Great Chesterford 4 miles to the northwest of Saffron Walden, in northwest Essex.
The 60% LTGDV facility will be used to convert the property set within a 1.67-acre site into 3 houses.
Saffron Walden is the largest town in the District of Uttlesford and is the administrative and commercial centre. This very attractive town is one of the finest preserved examples of a medieval market town, with a wealth of listed buildings in the town centre and Conservation Areas which cover much of the town. Saffron Walden is accessible to both London and Cambridge, with the M11 motorway and Audley End railway station being a few miles outside the town.
Over the past few months, Blend has funded a variety of residential development schemes sitting at both ends of the scale. From high-end schemes such as the development of 2 new build houses on the Crown Estate in Oxshott, Surrey, to more affordable schemes such as the conversion of a former care home into 21 residential units in Bexhill on Sea.
David Alcock MRICS, MD at Blend, commented: “We are delighted to have completed this deal. This scheme is a good example of the importance of having an experienced relationship lending team who can evaluate a project, however complicated it may seem, understanding the needs of the developer – not just at the start of a project but with consistency to the end.
"On this occasion, from the point of our first site meeting, it was clear that the developer knew their target market and that they had the requisite experience to deliver this type of conversion into what should be a truly stunning development.
"The life of a developer has enough challenges that when it comes to picking a lender we try and keep things simple, we’re a lender who understands the development process and the challenges that come with it and why to us, relationship lending matters so much."
