Octopus Real Estate backs Capital Land with £64m development loan

By Bridging Loan Directory 16th March 2022

Octopus Real Estate, part of Octopus Group and a leading UK specialist real estate lender and investor, has completed a £64 million loan secured on a 216-acre site with planning consent for the development of 1,550 new homes in Swindon, Wiltshire.

The site is the cornerstone of Swindon’s New Eastern Villages (NEV) town extension, and the loan will enable Capital Land Property Group to prepare the scheme for onward development and delivery.

In addition to providing much needed affordable and open market housing stock, the development will include two new schools, a large sports park, a community centre, and employment, retail, and leisure spaces.

A new cycle network will run through the site, and a park and ride facility will connect it to Swindon town centre.

The site is key to Swindon Borough Council’s long term housing growth plan and is a major part of the Government’s Regional Spatial Strategy for housing delivery across the South West.

The NEV Masterplan covers c.1,800-acres to the east of Swindon and is the largest approved urban extension in the UK.

With the long-term delivery of c.8,000 new homes, community facilities, health centres and 99-acres of employment space, the development is of huge importance to the local area’s economy and housing market.

Dominic Gibson, Investment Director, Octopus Real Estate, commented:

“We’re extremely pleased to have worked with Capital Land to fund this key regional development site. Octopus has always had a strong appetite for sites with planning consents that meet local demand, and this is a prime example.

The Capital Land team have worked tirelessly to deliver the New Eastern Villages masterplan, which this sizeable loan will support.

This phase of the scheme will deliver much-needed housing stock to the area by providing over 230 affordable units alongside 1,320 open market homes.

As a B Corp, Octopus is committed to supporting borrowers like Capital Land, who intend to deliver assets that positively transform their local areas.

The loan demonstrates our appetite and ability to provide large facilities, and underlines our ongoing support for the UK and Ireland’s regional markets.”

Jeremy Francis, Chief Executive, Capital Land Property Group, commented:

“We’ve worked with the local authorities on the New Eastern Villages for over a decade and are incredibly excited to be nearing the scheme’s development phase.

It’s a hugely important community extension for Swindon, so it’s been great to work with a major lender like Octopus to take it to the next stages of delivery.

The relationship was transparent and straightforward from the outset, and it was always clear that the Octopus team had the experience to understand large-scale assets and lending.

We truly believe that the New Eastern Villages will offer the area much-needed attainable high-quality housing.

The combination of green space, connectivity and considerate design will underpin a strong new community and fantastic quality of life for generations to come.”