Assetz Capital has marked a robust start to its financial year with £20m in development finance deployed across seven transactions within the first two weeks of April.

The range of completions spanned a broad geographic spread, with deals closed in Yorkshire, the Midlands, the South Coast and the Scottish Highlands. Notably, £11.3m was provided across three separate schemes to a single borrower in Yorkshire, highlighting both the scale of the lender’s appetite and its commitment to repeat business with regional developers.

The transactions were led by four of the firm’s regional relationship directors: Ricky Humpherys in Yorkshire, David Hehir in the Midlands, Jake Hiskett on the South Coast, and Geoff O’Brien in the Highlands. Their local knowledge and proximity to projects are seen as critical in expediting decision-making and unlocking funding quickly.

In the Midlands, Assetz Capital completed two deals totalling £5.6m, while a £1m facility was agreed in Brighton and a £1.9m funding package supported a pre-let commercial development in the Highlands. The activity follows the firm’s recent introduction of enhanced development finance rates from 9.1%, as it seeks to offer more competitive solutions to SME housebuilders outside the capital.

Andrew Fraser (pictured), chief commercial officer at Assetz Capital, said: “Our regional-first approach gives us a real edge when it comes to understanding the needs of developers where housing demand is strong. Across the UK, developers are telling us that our certainty of funding and speed of access are absolutely critical right now.

“That’s where our Day 1 advances and on-the-ground lending expertise of our relationship directors continue to be real differentiators.”