Assetz Capital has reduced pricing across its refurbishment, regeneration and development-exit loans with borrower rates now starting from 8.75% as developers increasingly shift towards conversion-led schemes to navigate the UK’s worsening planning bottlenecks.
Planning approvals for new homes in England have continued to fall sharply. The Home Builders Federation’s Q2 2025 Housing Pipeline Report shows that just 48,022 units secured planning permission in the quarter – a 23% decline.
Only 1,559 housing projects were approved, down 33% on Q1 and 45% year-on-year. Over the 12 months to June 2025, approvals totalled around 221,900 units, the weakest annual figure in more than a decade.
Against this backdrop, smaller and mid-sized developers are leaning more heavily on refurbishment, conversion and adaptive-reuse projects, which typically offer faster delivery, reduced planning exposure and better utilisation of existing assets.
Andrew Fraser (main picture), chief commercial officer at Assetz Capital, said: “Despite Government intervention, planning approvals still remain low, and developers are dealing with unprecedented delays.
“This is pushing many toward refurbishment and conversion projects, which are quicker to deliver and far less exposed to planning risk.”
SPEED AND CERTAINTY
Fraser said the lender’s repricing is aimed at supporting that market shift: “Our new pricing is designed to support that shift. But this is about more than rates – it’s about speed, certainty and the ability to fund through complexity.
“We’re calling on brokers to bring regeneration and conversion cases forward this Autumn, because these projects are now critical to keeping UK housing supply moving.”
Development Exit Loans and Planning Assistance Loans now start from 8.75 and Residential Refurbishment Loans from 9%.
Assetz Capital will be hosting a Refurbishment and Planning Assistance Loan product Webinar on Wednesday 17th December at 10am to outline how they can help developers secure and fund their next scheme.
Register HERE.
