Assetz Capital intends to support the revival of the SME housebuilder sector from the current lows of just 2,500 companies, compared to the sector’s peak in the 1980s where numbers stood at 12,000.
Additionally, as part of this funding growth, Assetz Capital intends to continue to substantially grow its lending support for the development and long-term finance of all forms of care and supported living accommodation, and also greatly increase its funding of commercial mortgages for trading businesses across the UK.
More broadly and building on its role in the Government’s CBILS and RLS schemes, the business also expects to play an increased role in the UK’s post-Covid economic recovery by continuing to increase its lending to SMEs.
The Assetz group 2022 strategy, set out in its Investing in a Fairer Future report, highlights the need for a recovery in SME housebuilding in order to help meet national housing targets, address the housing crisis and satisfy the huge demand for new energy-efficient homes as we look to decarbonise our housing stock and individuals adapt their lifestyles to a world shaped by the pandemic and a huge surge in energy costs.
Assetz Capital’s increased loan portfolio will offer more specialist support to SME housebuilders who struggle to secure financial support from big banks. At the same time, given the strength of housing demand at present, growth in Assetz housebuilding lending programme will continue to provide investment opportunities for real estate investors, both retail and institutional, especially in a world characterised by low-interest rates, high inflation and economic uncertainty.
Environmental and social focus at the centre of 2022 strategy
In addition to its ambitious lending target, Assetz is also aiming to increase its ability to promote decarbonisation of the built environment by committing to ensuring at least 95% of all new homes it funds are EPC B-rated or above by the end of the year.
Stuart Law, CEO of the Assetz group, said: "Since launching the Assetz group of companies over 20 years ago, our purpose has been consistent – to provide investors who understand investment risk with an innovative platform which offers healthy returns backed by property security while putting their capital to work to tackle big social challenges and support undersupplied areas of the market.
“Through our development finance, commercial mortgages and bridging finance, we have pioneered fractional investment and social impact investing in real estate to meet the needs of modern investors who increasingly want to diversify risk, drive potential returns, avoid the headache of direct asset management and make a positive impact on the world around them. At the same time, we have harnessed this appetite to make a meaningful contribution to some of the monumental challenges we are facing in the UK, from decarbonising the built environment and helping people save for the future in a world of low-interest rates, to supporting SME developers facing difficult market conditions and increasing the supply of much needed assisted living accommodation.
“This year we will go further than ever to support SMEs, catalyse the delivery of low carbon housing and take a leadership role in boosting the provision of much needed supported living accommodation to help address the growing crisis in the care sector. We have always believed that financial success and making a positive social impact are closely linked, a view we share with an increasing majority of investors who understand that using their capital for the benefit of wider society, as an extra return beyond headline interest rates, is the best way to generate sustainable returns long term.
“In this context, we are laser-focused on growing the Group this year to provide even more attractive opportunities for investors, support the growth of UK trading businesses and job creation, and provide increasing numbers of energy-efficient homes to those that need them most.”
