Close Brothers Property Finance (CBPF) has outlined plans to grow and diversify its loan book as it marks 50 years of lending to SME housebuilders.
Since 2020, CBPF has lent more than £5.1billion and has grown its loan book to almost £2billion. The business intends to increase facility sizes and further diversify the loan book weighting to include more Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) and Build-to-Rent (BTR) lending.
To support the evolving needs of the market, 2025 saw the launch of a new Structured Finance team led by Chiara Caldwell. The new team will facilitate the expansion into the fast-growing BtR and PBSA sectors, helping SME developers gain a foothold in these increasingly competitive areas.
CBPF is currently supporting the development of over 7,350 new homes across the UK. Landmark transactions over the past year include the lender’s first multi-site Revolving Credit Facility (RCF) of £38million to support Fernham Homes deliver more than 400 new homes across six sites, a £48million loan to fund 213 homes in Brent Cross, part of one of Europe’s largest regeneration projects, and a £44million facility to Select Property to support 266 new BtR homes in Birmingham.
Phil Hooper, CEO of Close Brothers Property Finance, said: “At the heart of the business’ success over the past half century is our firm commitment to helping SME housebuilders. Greater diversity in housing stock means better quality homes and support for local economies, with SMEs prioritising the use of local supply chains and skilled labour. This is not just a milestone year for us – it’s a springboard for the next half century. Against a challenging economic backdrop, we need to be agile as a business and evolve to meet the needs of our clients. Expanding our proposition into structured finance, we are better positioned to do just this.”
As a staunch advocate for SME housebuilders, CBPF was the first industry partner of the newly reconstituted All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for SME Housebuilders and since 2020, has published the ‘State of Play’ report, alongside the Home Builders Federation and Travis Perkins, which shines a spotlight on the biggest issues impacting SME housebuilders. The report has been cited in parliament, with launch events attended by senior politicians and leading industry figures.
