Bridging Finance News:- Trade body Build UK is negotiating with councils for building sites to be open for longer to recover time lost due to social distancing rules as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.
Local planning authorities usually restrict site opening hours to reduce noise and disturbance in residential areas.
However, the building industry argues longer hours would enable it to organise shifts with a lower concentration of workers on the site at any one time.
They maintain this would also mean workers could use public transport at different times spreading the concentration of commuters during the day.
Build UK said it is working on opening up the supply chain by demonstrating a demand for materials. On Monday the Builders Merchants Federation, BMF, announced a list of its members who were opening revealing a 50 per cent increase on the previous week.
| Product | Max LTV | Up to 50% LTV | 50.01 – 65.00% LTV | 65.01 – 75.00% LTV | Term & Repayment | Arrangement Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential Including Light Refurbishment | Up to 75% Lower of PP or MV | 0.43% pm | 0.53% pm | 0.60% pm | Maximum term 24 months No minimum interest or ERCs Interest Fully Rolled Up, Part-Rolled Up or Serviced (subject to affordability) The net advance will be less total potential interest over the term with the gross loan calculated as interest for the entire term and the arrangement fee added. | 1% -1.5% Full fee added to the loan. |
| Semi Commercial Including Light Refurbishment | Up to 75% Lower of PP or MV | 0.6% pm | 0.6% pm | 0.6% pm | ||
| Commercial Including Light Refurbishment | Up to 70% Lower of PP or MV | 0.75% pm | ||||
| Residential Heavy Refurbishment | Up to 75% Lower of PP or MV | 0.60% pm | 0.65% pm | 0.7% pm | ||
| Commercial and Semi Commercial Heavy Refurbishment | Up to 70% Lower of PP or MV | 0.83% pm | 0.83% pm | 0.7% pm | ||
The trade body for housebuilders north of the border, Homes for Scotland, HfS, has said its working on an action plan to get going as soon as the lockdown is lifted.
Quoting the country’s state of the economy report released yesterday, it said social distancing could cost Scotland a drop in gross domestic product of a third.
Scottish builders keen to get back into action smoothly
HfS chief executive, Nicola Barclay, said: “We are working on a recovery plan which includes the core components necessary to kickstart home building, including putting robust control measures in place to protect workers, home purchasers and tenants, as well as working across the sector to ensure everyone is ready to go as soon as we can.”
She said that the housebuilding industry in addition to delivering needed homes contributed towards jobs and the economy through its extensive supply chain.
“Restarting from a standstill requires considerable planning and coordination so it is imperative that the Scottish government works closely with industry to establish a programme for recommencement so we can provide the homes that so many people desperately need.”
Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, announced a lockdown of all building sites on March 24th unless they were to help build hospitals and medical facilities.
Bridging Finance by HZA
Brokers Hank Zarihs Associates said development finance lenders were keen to see any measures which would help their clients complete schemes without too many delays.
