New platform makes finding development finance a piece of cake

A new East Anglian Fintech company has recently launched the Panoptic platform to provide access to new build finance in a bid to help get Britain building.

54% of SME property developers say that access to finance is one of the most challenging aspects of building, converting or refurbishing residential property.  The new Panoptic Platform provides a free, easy to use online service to help SMEs overcome this challenge.

How does it work?

The Panoptic platform has brought together leading providers of development finance, selected based on their track record in delivering both solution and service. The Panoptic Platform intelligently matches the project with the most suitable lenders by the SME completing a relatively simple online questionnaire. The platform then instantly provides indicative terms for them to consider.

Lenders such as, Aldermore Bank, Close Brothers Property Finance, Natwest Bank, Lowry Capital, Alternative Bridging Corporation, Eastern Credit Ltd, Propfin Ltd, Masthaven Bank, Heritable Development Finance and the Helmsley Group, have already been selected, with a small number of additional lenders joining in the very near future.

Rowland Thomas, Director of Close Brothers, one of the selected lenders, commented: “Close Brothers is delighted to be one of the chosen lenders on the Panoptic platform.  Along with numerous other headwinds that SME property developers have to contend with, the critical process of raising finance can often be one of the most challenging.  We believe that Panoptic will be of considerable assistance to this vitally important sector of our economy by helping developers reach the funders that can support them, like us.” 

Why is it neccessary?

A decade after the financial crisis, the difficulty in accessing finance remains a major barrier to small house builders increasing their delivery of new homes. These difficulties make it much harder for existing SME house builders to grow and deters new firms from entering the market. This has resulted in a less dynamic house building sector that is less able to expand to build the new homes we need.

Nearly half of all small builders have reported to the Federation of Master Builders that sites which they are working on or interested in had stalled amid a lack of available funding.  54% claimed that lack of finance was one of the biggest constraints on their house building ability.

To address the housing shortage, small builders are seen as vital, as they are likely to buy plots of land that larger developers ignore.

For more information on the Panoptic platform please visit www.panoptic.org.uk