Downing LLP specialist lending team passes £500 million milestone

By Bridging Loan Directory 7th June 2023

Investment manager Downing LLP has announced that its specialist lending team has passed the £500 million milestone for commitments.

Approximately £200 million of this total has been achieved in less than a year, demonstrating strong and consistent growth.

Downing LLP’s specialist lending team, which comprises predominantly residential development finance to experienced developers, as well as wholesale finance solutions to other lenders has achieved this huge growth despite the challenging market and economic conditions.

Parik Chandra, Partner and Head of Specialist Lending, Downing LLP said:

“We continue to see strong growth in our property lending team, but this has been achieved with a tight focus on risk management and high-quality origination.

Despite a challenging macro environment, many attractive lending opportunities remain in the property development market, and we will continue to support SME developers.

We have also seen considerable interest in our wholesale lending proposition, particularly from bridging lenders.”

The team focuses on deploying funds from investors as secured loans to property developers delivering residential-led schemes nationwide as well as non-speculative commercial developments, and specialist sub-sectors such as student accommodation.

Downing’s main focus within wholesale financing is on providing facilities to SME lenders predominantly in the property sector.

Downing believes its investors can benefit from debt investment secured against property development projects and wholesale lending opportunities by targeting attractive yield through a “safety-first” lens, focusing on relationship-based sourcing and working with experienced counterparties.