According to managing director Mercedez Binning, brokers are seeing many lenders turn down enquiries from clients looking for development finance because of concern over historic credit problems or other issues.
She said: “We are hearing about how much more funding is available for developers. However, the reality is that lenders are also becoming more cautious on the cases they want to take on. This is partly in response to the ongoing debate on sustainable lending but there is also an element of cherry picking which is having the effect of leaving many would be clients out in the cold. Our philosophy is to look carefully at the flaws in every case, assess the risk responsibly, the security being offered and the client’s ability to service and repay the loan and price our loans accordingly. Provided we believe that the client is able to satisfy us, we are able to respond and make funding available very quickly.”
She added: “Brokers should never give up on any case they believe in. We might not be a first choice, because we price according to the individual risk as we see it on each case, which makes us seem not as competitive. However, our record shows that we are able to respond positively in more cases and provide clients with the kind of short term facility they need to see successful and profitable projects to fruition.”
Alpha, which this month launched a bond to bring in fresh investment funds to the business, has had a successful 2014 with its traditional bridging model supplemented by being able to use other assets as security for its loans.
