Lending activity has been enhanced by the regions – and PRS development in particular – as investors are increasingly looking beyond the capital, with Manchester, the Midlands, Kent, Surrey and Essex proving to be especially active.
Octane’s lending highlights in May included a £9.2m refinance against a recently completed high-spec, build-to-rent development in Manchester city centre – the specialist lenders largest regional loan since it launched last year.
Octane Capital announced that it passed £100m of completions in January 2018.
- Octane and Black Book complete £1m bridge
- Octane and Mantra complete loan for west London garage acquisition
- Annual bridging lending nears £3.8bn
Jonathan Samuels, CEO at Octane Capital, said that to hit £200m of completions was another major milestone and reflected the huge team effort put in by everyone at Octane.
“While London will always remain an active environment for us, we expect a growing percentage of our lending in the future to take place in the major regional hubs, including Manchester.
“In the past two to three years, the balance of power between the capital and the rest of the country has really started to shift.”
Mark Posniak, managing director at Octane Capital (pictured above), said that it was thrilled to have passed £200m of completions, but that it was how it got there that was most interesting.
“The Manchester loan is symbolic of what’s happening in the property market right now.
“Not only is investor attention increasingly turning away from the capital to the regions, but build-to-rent is in the ascendancy, as many amateur landlords exit traditional buy-to-let due to the harsh taxation regime and tenants seek long-term, lifestyle alternatives.
“We’re witnessing a fundamental step-change in the market.”
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