Developers Paul & Sarah Waterworth, owners of Olam Holdings Ltd, were expecting their loan to fund the conversion of a barn and garage into five homes to complete at any moment, when the Covid19 pandemic brought everything to a standstill.
Paul explains: “The funding had ground to a halt. We were looking at an empty building site with no roof on either of the properties, wondering what our next move would be.”
With nowhere to turn to and the prospect of no building work for months to come, he contacted his Intermediary, Mark Jerman of Watts Commercial Finance, for advice.
“As if by some sort of miracle, the CBILS scheme was announced by British Business Bank shortly after the lockdown. I spoke to our broker, Mark Jerman, who said, ‘Don’t worry, Assetz are being registered to provide lending through CBILS.’ Our Relationship Director Rebecca Hall was always very reassuring, and she gave us the confidence to continue with the project.”
Rebecca, Relationship Director at Assetz Capital added: “It’s great to be able to help the husband and wife team through CBILS. We are one of only a very small number of lenders accredited to offer development finance through it. I’ve been to visit the site a few times recently, and the build is coming along really nicely. We can now see light at the end of the tunnel and it’s really pleasing to help our client to develop affordable housing in a lovely rural setting.”
Assetz Capital Lending Limited provided the £1.3m development loan through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) in partnership with British Business Bank. The business has already lent over £25m worth of loans to struggling SMEs through the government-backed scheme.
With the site now undergoing building work, the homes will be water-tight by Christmas and are expected to be fully complete and be ready for sale by June 2021.
Paul continued, “Had we not stuck with Assetz and the CBILS scheme, we would have struggled, there were no comparables. Using Watts Commercial and Assetz, we were able to see beyond the lockdown. They’ve essentially rewritten the rules of lending and in a very short timescale.”
