Brokers say high street banks are still averse to development finance

The survey, carried out by United Trust Bank, found that brokers were still considering the major lenders for development finance opportunities with 55% having approached a high street bank with a proposal in the previous three months. However, the majority of brokers found their last attempt to secure development finance from a High Street lender was unsuccessful.

Despite brokers still finding the high street banks averse to lending on new developments their outlook was upbeat. 71% of brokers said that they expect to grow their development finance business this year.

Noel Meredith, Director at United Trust Bank commented:

“If they haven’t done so already developers will be gearing up to meet a growing demand for housing and many of them will need a reliable source of funding to do so. Although there still appears to be little or at least variable appetite from the high street banks to return to the development finance sector in any significant form, specialist lenders like United Trust Bank have stepped in to fill  that void."