Invest&Fund – A Partner for Northern SME Homebuilders
UK boutique property developers across the North, in our eyes, are among the most creative and entrepreneurial individuals in the real estate sector.
They identify underutilised land, unlock planning gains, and deliver high-spec, design-focused projects that larger developers often overlook. These are not your volume housebuilders; they’re highly skilled operators working in tight local markets, often with a strong sense of place and architectural quality. However, to turn a site into a successful scheme, in this hyper-competitive market, lacking the liquidity of a volume entity, requires a deeply interconnected, mutually dependent relationship. They need a backer who understands their projects and moves at the speed of an aggressive market. That’s why we say partner, not borrower.
Now, this relationship of equals is not without its challenges; there are apparent frictions between the free-flowing nature of entrepreneurship and the diligence required to manage finances. Developers may focus on speed and delivery, sometimes overlooking the lending market’s need for visibility into risk, timeline, and contingencies. Meanwhile, lenders can overwhelm partners with compliance or due diligence requests, particularly early on, when things need to move quickly. When communication falters, misunderstandings grow. There is also a natural conflict in the lending model, as ultimately, platforms like ours are in the business of protecting capital. Developers are in the business of creating value.
When a site opportunity appears, developers need to move quickly. Larger institutions can take months to issue credit decisions, but in our sector, we can underwrite, approve, and draw down funds in a fraction of the time. That responsiveness is critical in a competitive market, and it’s one of the main reasons partnerships sustain. Rather than waiting until a deal is fully structured, developers can engage with us early, and our sector needs to convey this message more effectively. This needs to happen during feasibility, planning, or even acquisition. This gives us more confidence in the deal, and developers benefit from early input on finance strategy and risk management. Lending platforms like ours review hundreds of projects and have data across various regions, whereas our partners live in the details of their specific markets. Sharing insights, working together, and inviting those discussions, whether about pricing trends, build cost pressures, or local planning shifts, the good, the bad and the ugly, it all adds value and strengthens trust. We aim to add value beyond capital, helping to refine appraisals, workshop ideas, and problem-solve to be the partner our clients deserve.
As the UK property market continues to evolve, facing pressures from planning bottlenecks, construction inflation, and shifting buyer preferences, developer-lender relationships must also evolve.
At Invest & Fund, we believe the future lies in deeper, more transparent, and truly collaborative partnerships. When both sides are aligned, engaged, and invested in each other’s success, the result is not just successful projects, but stronger, more resilient businesses on both sides of the table.
So yes, we call our borrowers partners—because that’s exactly what they are.
Partnership Director – Alan Fletcher