Hilltop Credit Partners launches residential development finance platform

By Bridging Loan Directory 15th April 2019

Hilltop Credit Partners (“Hilltop” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce its launch as a specialist funding partner for proven small and mid-sized residential property developers and housebuilders across the UK, a market which suffers from a chronic undersupply of housing.

The Company’s target is to deploy in excess of £125 million over the next 12 months by providing attractive funding solutions to SME developers who have track records of delivery but need greater access to capital to effectively grow their businesses and deliver new, more affordable homes that the UK desperately needs.

Hilltop Credit Partners is backed by Round Hill Capital, a leading global real estate investment firm with a focus on macro-driven residential real estate investment strategies. The team at Hilltop Credit Partners has a successful track record in property development, asset management and financial structuring in the UK and Continental Europe, with a well-established understanding of development risks and opportunities and changing market cycles.

The Company provides a tailored one-stop funding solution for up to 90% loan to cost, with loans ranging from £3 million to £20 million. Hilltop can move quickly to offer developers the funding they need to seize development opportunities, eliminating the uncertainty and costs associated with multiple sets of legal and professional documents.

Currently, Hilltop Credit Partners has a near-term launch pipeline of over £40 million to fund residential schemes in various UK locations, including Windsor, York and the Midlands.

Paul Oberschneider, Founder and CEO of Hilltop Credit Partners, said:

“Our joint venture with Round Hill Capital brings together our collective experience and skills to support proven SME housebuilders throughout the UK, and to help promote greater housing supply that is more affordable than what the large housebuilders focus on delivering. We look forward to continuing to significantly expand our development lending portfolio diversified across the UK, with a target to deploy in excess of £125 million over the next 12 months.

Hilltop is an agile and entrepreneurial team with significant financial firepower to deploy, and the industry expertise and reach required to move quickly to fund the delivery of more new homes in the UK. We have been significant developers ourselves and we understand development risk and market cycles.”

Commenting on the launch, Michael Bickford, founder and CEO of Round Hill Capital, said:

“Consistent with many European countries, the UK’s residential housing market suffers from structural supply/demand imbalances as well as a development funding shortfall. Round Hill has a proven 17-year track record of investing into residential markets across Europe, where we identify opportunities that will deliver quality housing.

We are delighted to be entering the UK real estate debt market by partnering with the highly experienced management team of Hilltop Credit Partners. We are confident that our combined sector and industry knowledge, expertise, industry networks, committed capital and ability to deliver will prove invaluable to proven SME housebuilders in the UK in need of attractive funding solutions to build the significant additional housing that the UK needs.”