United Trust Bank’s development finance team were approached by experienced commercial and residential developers with a good track record looking for funding for a mixed use development in a village within commuting distance of Cambridge.
The project comprised the development of a convenience store, six further retail units with six apartments above and four houses. Two of the houses are detached the other a pair of semi-detached. The developers had agreed a pre-let of the convenience store with a national supermarket chain and this, coupled with the limited existing retail provision in the village, enabled us to have confidence in the retail aspect of the project.
The village itself has seen major growth in numbers of residential units over recent years and this continues with several large house builders active in the area. Our assessment of the borrower’s residential provision is that it complements the current pipeline projects from other developers rather than competing directly with them.
Cambridge remains a vibrant employment area and we expect to see a strong demand for this project. Accordingly we were happy to provide a £1.78m facility to cover all of the construction costs and interest.
Loan of £1.78m – 57% GDV