A family brick business shaped this construction lending career
For Nathan Miglani, managing adviser at Squirrel South Island, construction and development lending has always been close to his heart. His family has spent the last 30 years around builders and developers through a family business supplying bricks, and that early exposure to the building trade has shaped how he approaches this part of the business ever since.
Long before construction finance became a talking point in the wider mortgage industry, Miglani and his colleague Daniel Kuo were already working hard in this space through NZ Mortgages, the business Miglani built, which had its own dedicated arm for construction lending called constructionloans.co.nz.
A bigger home to grow in
In 2024, NZ Mortgages merged with Squirrel Mortgages, and those years of groundwork found a bigger home to grow in.
"Joining Squirrel gave us access to a genuinely innovative, fast-moving construction finance product, at a scale we could never have built on our own," Miglani said. "It's helped make development finance a fairer, more workable option for builders and developers."
Archie's turn to build
For five years, Miglani and Kuo had been quietly building this part of the business together, and it was into that foundation that Archie Middleton joined the team as a mortgage analyst. In April this year, he was promoted to a full-time mortgage adviser and has since built relationships with builders and developers across Christchurch, Queenstown, and Central Otago.
"I'm really enjoying learning lending in a space that is very experienced and has been the top mortgage adviser business in the South Island for the last seven years," Middleton said. "There is very little awareness among builders and developers of the right lending products and the right lending solutions for them. I genuinely enjoy building relationships with them, and I'm committed to helping the builders' community reach their financial goals."
Construction and development lending has grown from around 5% of the business to nearly 20%, a trend Miglani expects to continue.
"As more people become familiar with the Squirrel brand, and as head office keeps investing in innovation around building and development finance, that flows straight through to our clients here in the South Island," he said. "We're fortunate to have that support behind us."
Eyes on Central Otago
Miglani said he sees particular opportunity in Central Otago over the coming years.
"I think the next five years are a real window for Central Otago," he said. "Construction momentum there still has a lot of room to grow, especially compared to Queenstown and Wanaka. Cromwell has already established itself, but I think places like Clyde and Alexandra are the ones to watch over the next five years. High building costs, high land prices, and tight supply against strong demand all point the same way: this region needs more affordable housing, and we'd like to help make that happen."
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