Construction plant deals may be boosted by strong activity in the house building sector
Despite the political and economic uncertainty, it appears that house builders are continuing to invest in land and getting new sites approved. According to HBF/Glenigan’s Housing Pipeline report, house builders had a form of planning permission granted for nearly 370,000 new homes last year, the second highest annual total on record and well over double the number granted ten years ago.
Whilst many of the permissions will still take months or years to weave their way through the remainder of the planning process, the numbers underline the commitment of the industry to deliver further increases in housing supply in the years ahead.
This commitment to future construction projects can only be good news for those involved in the plant and machinery sector of the asset finance industry. The latest FLA figures published in early May indicate an 11% uplift in new asset finance business in March 2019 compared to the same month last year with the growth in plant and machinery funding increasing by the same amount.
United Trust Bank’s Asset Finance division have also experienced a busy start to 2019, transacting a significant amount of business in this sector. Our flexible approach to funding allows us to support SMEs with the means to acquire new vehicles, plant and machinery and also those looking to purchase older but still very serviceable equipment.
UTB doesn’t have an aged asset restriction so we are happy to consider funding secured on assets which would be considered too old by many of our competitors. We can also refinance assets whether they are unencumbered or on existing finance to enable businesses to release working capital.
It’s recognised that the 2500 or so UK SME house builders have an important role to play in contributing to the 222,000 new homes the Government would like to see completed this year, and at UTB we’re keen to help those companies achieve their goals.
Please contact us to discuss your clients’ construction plant and equipment funding and refinance needs, however old the assets may be.
| “What an absolute pleasure… |
| In a previous issue of The Specialist I talked about “The power of poor service” so it was pleasing for us to get these comments following a broker’s bad experience with another funder.
“I just wanted to say what an absolute pleasure it has been to deal with Lotty Teague and Paul Barter on this transaction. Even with the mistakes made by the other funder, Lotty in the support team managed to get everything to the point of paying out so quickly today. Paul was there every step of the way providing me with the information and back-up I needed. For UTB’s part this has been an easy, stress-free deal and if it hadn’t been for the difficulty with the other funder it would have paid out much sooner. So again, my thanks to you all and I look forward to doing more business with you very soon.” |
| Eve Allen, Area Manager – Commercial Vehicle Finance (CVF) |
| More new homes = more yellow plant |
| ‘The growth in plant and machinery finance has been reflected here at UTB. The following deals show the typically diverse selection of yellow plant we have helped our brokers to finance and refinance recently. |
| Excavators |
| The refinance of five 2013 long reach excavators Deal size: £325,000 |
| Digger |
| To facilitate the purchase of a new Takeuchi digger Deal size: £75,000 |
| Jetting unit |
| The refinance of a wagon mounted Jetting unit to release capital for a land purchase. Deal size: £220,000 |
| Crane |
| To enable the purchase of a 2005 Kato crane (made possible by UTB not having an aged asset policy) Deal size: £50,000 |