This reflects ongoing demand from borrowers for flexible financing solutions
Investec Real Estate, a provider of residential and commercial finance to corporate, institutional, and private clients, has announced that it provided £1.2 billion of senior finance, across 85 loans, in the 12 months to the end of March 2022.
Investec said the record performance demonstrates the ongoing demand from UK real estate borrowers for flexible financing solutions from experienced lenders and the outperformance of the asset class despite unprecedented macro-economic challenges.
The £1.2 billion comprised £524 million of investment finance and £472 million of development finance, with a slight weighting towards commercial real estate (55%).
During the period, Investec lent against numerous high-quality real estate schemes, in an increasingly diverse mix of use classes, including residential for sale, build to rent, mid box logistics, purpose-built student accommodation, office, mixed use, and retirement living.
The average loan size during the record year was £14 million, up from £8 million last year.
It was also a record year for its private client team, having provided over £500 million of financing across 60 loans – more than double than the previous 12 months.
Investec said 30% of the loans were to new clients, with the remainder to established clients on repeat business.
Most of the new lending was in London and the South East, targeted at residential development finance but also supported investment clients on both residential and commercial loans.
Recently, it arranged a record £170 million investment loan for Greystar’s Sailmaker’s BTR scheme and a first modular construction deal, aligning with Investec’s commitment to funding sustainable real estate schemes.
Read more: Investec arranges £170 million loan facility for Greystar.
Mark Bladon (pictured), head of Investec Real Estate, pointed out that considering the backdrop, first with COVID and now the uncertain geo-political situation, as well as the increasing number of market entrants, makes the achieved record numbers even more impressive.
“With a deep understanding of operational real estate built up over nearly 30 years, the support of the wider bank, and a global client base, we continue to grow our market share, without compromising on loan terms,” Bladon said.
“While we will exercise caution in the face of a higher inflation and interest rate environment, we expect structural undersupply in almost every subsector and supportive demographic trends to drive increasing demand.”
