Former bosses at Man Group and Octopus Real Estate have launched a new residential lending platform with a target to deploy £3bn over the next six years.
Matthew Pritchard, formerly head of European real estate debt at Man Group, has teamed up with Gavin Eustace, the former head of residential development at Octopus Real Estate, to form Silbury Finance.
The business, backed by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, will underwrite loans of between £10m and £150m, with an LTV of 60%-70%.
Silbury aims to meet new market demand, as banks and alternative lenders pull back due to uncertainty in the wake of the pandemic.
It will target UK residential, retirement and student living sectors and aims to lend £500m in 2021.
Pritchard said: “Middle-market residential developers continue to be hugely underserved by the lending markets, and we expect the current uncertainty to only exacerbate this trend further.”
Eustace added: “The UK residential sector, which was already benefitting from a number of favourable structural trends, has further demonstrated its defensive and countercyclical characteristics during the pandemic.
“Against a structural backdrop of undersupply of residential real estate in our target markets, the case for debt financing remains strong and we look forward to closing on our near-term pipeline of opportunities, employing a prudent and disciplined approach to lending.”
To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @estatesgazette
