"Brokers need to be able to diversify at times like these and all lenders can hopefully see the wider benefit in helping intermediaries thrive."
Having worked in a number of different areas of specialist lending across my career, I’m always heartened when I meet brokers who provide advice across multiple areas within the specialist market, whether in residential mortgages, buy-to-let, bridging finance or commercial lending.
Providers have worked hard to make their processes as straightforward as possible and easier for advisers to place cases, regardless of the type of lending, and many brokers see the benefit in providing more holistic advice.
However, when I joined Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) and made the move into development finance, I was shocked at how much of a closed shop the sector can appear as to brokers who aren’t experienced in this particular market.
In fact, the impression I would get from talking to brokers was that the market was deliberately opaque and while some brokers might refer enquiries to those more experienced in development finance, that would be the extent of their involvement; meanwhile, the rest would simply turn all development-related enquiries away.
Of course, not every development finance lender has been responsible for this less than satisfactory state of affairs. For example, I’ve seen how hard the HTB team works at serving brokers and developers, with lending directors on the ground in each region, ensuring that first-class products and services are provided to the developer community across the length and breadth of the country.
In addition, HTB’s specialist mortgage and development finance departments often work together across complex cases, demonstrating that no sector is a closed shop within our bank. We want brokers to feel confident in a variety of different areas of specialist lending, which is especially relevant at the present time, when certain industry sectors are more subdued than in recent years. Brokers need to be able to diversify at times like these and all lenders can hopefully see the wider benefit in helping intermediaries thrive.
But that’s not all. During 2023, my colleague, Uliana Kuzmis, HTB’s deputy managing director for development finance, has been sharing her ‘50 things I learned in development finance’ with her significant number of followers on LinkedIn. Uliana is an extremely experienced development finance professional and part of the reason for her series of posts is that she recognises there can be some complex issues to deal with in the development finance space. The posts are to explain, demystify and also provide solutions to overcome such issues so brokers, regardless of their level of experience in development finance, can feel more confident in taking on cases.
In addition, HTB has recently hosted l our debut development finance masterclass event in central London, for brokers who have had some level of experience and exposure to development finance enquiries and would like to deepen their knowledge and understanding of this sector.
Key members of the HTB development finance team and guest speakers provided a day of networking, learning and practical advice in a great London location, all in service of improving brokers’ knowledge of and confidence in the development finance realm.
The event covered an array of topics, including top underwriting secrets; development finance enquiries; construction training and legal due diligence.
Some might wonder why we’re so keen on getting brokers more able to deal successfully with development finance enquires. After all, our department is breaking lending records every year, and our service is in a great place (in fact, we’ve won multiple industry awards over the past 12 months for our great staff, products and service).
It’s because we recognise that a bigger market benefits all the players in it. There’s no gain from the development finance market appearing to be a closed shop. In the current economic conditions, many brokers are struggling to write enough business in their normal areas and so it’s an opportune moment for brokers to refine their development finance knowledge, enhancing their income, supporting housebuilders, and facilitating the essential delivery of new homes throughout the country.
