OakNorth completes £12m development finance loan to Barry Howard Homes

By Bridging Loan Directory 24th July 2018

OakNorth – the bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs – has completed a £12m loan to Northampton based property development company – Barry Howard Homes.

Founded in 1998, BHH has built over 1,300 affordable and private homes in the UK over the last 20 years and has a projected GDV of c.£170m between now and 2022. The company has worked on a number of large-scale projects in the past, including the conversion of an office block in Nottingham into 163 apartments for student accommodation and the conversion of two Grade 2 listed buildings into residential units. The finance from OakNorth will be used to acquire a 11.83-acre piece of land on Towcester Road, Hill Farm, Northampton and develop 139 residential units on it. Once completed, the building will consist of 56 detached houses, 78 semi-detached houses and five 2-bedroom apartments which will be sold at an average price of £230,519. Heylo Housing, a residential property company with a long-term investment strategy to provide affordable housing across the UK, has already agreed to purchase 83 of the units once completed.

Commenting on the deal, Barry Howard, Founder and Director at Barry Howard Homes said:

“This is one of the fastest-growing regions in the UK, so we know there is avid demand for new housing, as evidenced by the fact that we have already secured a sale of 83 units from Heylo. With OakNorth’s support, we will be able to bring some much-needed new homes to the region and look forward to working with the team on additional transactions in the future.”

Hemesh Patel, Property Finance Director at OakNorth commented:

“Northampton is amongst the fastest moving property markets in the UK with average homes going under offer in 27 days after being listed – 20 days quicker than the UK average. Residential properties in this area are also significantly more affordable than London (£226k vs £488k) and there is a large selection of schools in the region, making it attractive to families.

“Barry has extensive knowledge of the sector and has successfully completed a number of large-scale residential projects in the past. The fact that a large portion of the units have already attracted interest from Heylo demonstrates that Barry and his team are very aware of market demand and how to meet it. We look forward to working with him again in the future and seeing the development once completed.”