Scott Marshall, managing director at Roma Finance, has told how the business has seen a significant increase in bridging finance across the North West in the first half of the year.
For all of England and Wales, H1 lending volumes for Roma also show an increase of 80 per cent compared to the same period in 2017, with a growing proportion of this increase coming from bridging in the North West.
Recent market data shows key cities in the North West are performing well in the property sector, with Stockport, Bolton, Manchester and Warrington all appearing in the Co-Star top 10 for commercial property activity.
The recent Hometrack House Price Index also highlights Manchester and Liverpool as cities with the fastest house price growth, demonstrating booming economies and that they are desirable locations to live.
With regeneration a key strategic aim for many north west towns, Roma Finance aims to help an increasing number of experienced developers benefit from a favourable environment to renovate and convert a wide range of property across the region.
Marshall says that with improving transport links and the promise of more to come, the North West is proving to be “an exciting place for businesses and for people to live and work”.
Roma’s lending success, he says, has come from improved processes and market-leading products, with the result that they are also growing their BDM and underwriting teams to cope with current and future demand, throughout England and Wales. He added:
“Although we lend throughout England and Wales, we’ve seen some tremendous projects in the North West and this has become a huge growth area for us. There’s a high demand for property conversions. For example, we have just enhanced our facility to £1.52million on our largest ever case in Manchester as it now has planning for 30 apartments (up from 26) with underground parking.
“And in Liverpool we have helped numerous customers including one who’s now on their sixth deal with us, having made almost £1million on their last transaction.
“There’s a greater demand than ever before, and we are now rapidly growing the team so more introducers and developers can benefit from the opportunities our bridging finance solutions can provide.”