"I think in their haste to lend money, a number of lenders have lent at LTVs and rates that may see them with some difficult loans in the months ahead. "
FR: Magnet Capital opened its doors for business this month – tell us about your proposition and what sets you apart from your competitors.
Having worked for nearly eight years at the Regentsmead Group, one of the leading privately owned development finance businesses in the market, rising to become joint head in 2016, I know what works and what doesn't. At Magnet Capital, we have a clear vision of how we want to serve our clients and introducer partners, many of whom we have worked with for many years and rely on the dynamism, the flexibility and personal approach of our lending.
Unlike other lenders, Magnet Capital only lends funds for development finance so our sole focus reflects our deep level of knowledge and expertise. We don't get bogged down being all things to all men and concentrate on what we do best, which is providing tailored development finance solutions to our clients offering them a service which is second to none.
FR: What will Magnet’s main aims or focuses be going into 2019? Do you have any exciting news or plans you can tell us about?
Our focus will be on continuing the relationships with our borrowers and brokers that we have worked with for many years. The Magnet team have all worked together for many years at Regentsmead and have built up strong relationships with clients and brokers. The great advantage Magnet has that it is effectively continuing the Regentsmead business model, with the same team and service levels but with market leading rates and even more flexibility.
FR: How do you see the development finance market evolving over the next couple of years?
I think in their haste to lend money, a number of lenders have lent at LTVs and rates that may see them with some difficult loans in the months ahead. Consequently, I do foresee some retrenchment from some bridging lenders that have turned to development finance in recent years, without the years of experience required in this specialist area. Magnet is focused on lending sensibly to protect not only ourselves but also our clients. There is a lot of opportunity for development finance specialists who have the grey hairs to match their experience.
FR: What are the biggest opportunities and difficulties facing brokers in the current economic climate?
The biggest opportunities for brokers are that, for the first time in my memory, all three political parties are pushing for more new build properties to be built and are at least trying to create the conditions for this to happen, whether this is targets for new builds, continuing Help to Buy and attempts to get planning departments to become more pro development.
Lots of work needs to be done on these fronts, but you would hope that with these fair winds developers will be looking for funding especially as the high street banks hold back from lending. The difficulty aside from the mountains of compliance that we re all faced with is the obvious political and therefore economic uncertainty that is out there at the moment. Markets hate uncertainty and ours is no different.
FR: If you could see one headline about financial services in 2019, what would it be?
'Brexit Deal Done' - Let's talk about something different.
