Brickflow News
Having secured nearly £50m in approved loans within 6 months of launch, we know Brickflow delivers a win, win for borrowers and lenders. Find out why.
When we secured nearly £50 million in approved loans within our first six months, we were keen to shout about it. Here’s the news story we shared with the media, which this week has been picked up and covered by titles including Development Finance Today, Specialist Finance Introducer, Business Money, Peer2Peer Finance News and Property and Development magazines.
We know Brickflow and its digital tools can help solve developer funding issues, ensuring SME developers have better access to lenders which in turn will boost construction and help the Government meet its housing target of 300,000 new homes per year.
Brickflow – the UK’s first search engine for development finance – has secured £47.6 million in approved loans in its first six months, supporting the delivery of 220 (208 residential and 12 commercial) units. Launched on 30 October, the digital platform connects borrowers and lenders in seconds, addressing widely-reported funding access issues.
In its 2020 Housebuilders’ Survey, the Federation of Master Builders found respondents rated residential development lending conditions for SMEs 1.98 out of 5, down from 2.15 the previous year.
Brickflow believes it will stop this downward spiral
With 26 lenders plugged into its platform (representing more than half of the UK development finance sector), it can comfortably complete the development loan process in six weeks, rather than the industry standard of six months, and enjoys a 90+% conversion rate from Heads of Terms (HoTs) to credit approval.
Over the past six months, 15 borrowers have had loans approved – at an average of just under £3.2m per loan.
Co-founder and head of lending, Ian Humphreys, says technology supports a simple and speedy application process: “Once they’ve completed a search, borrowers are invited to build a project appraisal on the platform and when completed, it’s published on Brickflow. Lenders that are the closest match are invited to review the appraisal, bid on the project and submit their best loan terms.
“Any and all lender feedback is shared with the borrower, along with additional information requests. Our process has been developed in consultation with our lenders, so once HoTs are received, borrowers are not normally required to provide further information to get through the credit approval stage. It means borrowers can move forward at speed and with confidence.”
Brickflow says its business model is a win, win for lenders and borrowers. “There’s a single onboarding process, supported by online tools to build borrowers’ profiles and showcase their experience and projects. This information is only sent to lenders that match borrowers’ requirements, making it easier for lenders to find the projects that they want to fund, saving huge amounts of time for both parties,” comments Ian.
“Our mission is to open up the market and empower borrowers and their advisers – offering them the quickest and easiest way to secure trusted finance,” he concludes.
About Brickflow
Launched on 30 October 2020, Brickflow is a technology platform set to revolutionise the property finance sector. With 80 lenders plugged into its platform, borrowers can build a developer track record with supporting documents and make their applications online and in real-time.
Brickflow helps borrowers improve their Return on Capital Employed on every deal by ranking loans in size and price order.
Brickflow helps borrowers improve their Return on Capital Employed on every deal by ranking loans in size and price order. Their Quick Search product enables borrowers to check the viability of sites online in under two minutes, before going out to see them.
For lenders, the platform’s unique technology automatically filters out enquiries that do not meet their criteria and its consistent information format prompts quick decision-making. Brickflow is co-founded by Ian Humphreys, a property finance professional with more than 15 years’ experience and leading software developer, Robert Lange.
To find out more about Brickflow, visit www.brickflow.com email info@brickflow.com or call 020 4534 5227.
Unpicking the pros and cons of an open-ended bridging loan, the difference between open and closed bridging and what is the best choice loan for you.
Learn how bridging loan deposits work, why they’re required, and how to optimise your deposit to secure the best loan terms.
A quick look into some of the key differences between commercial and residential bridging loans, and other variations of bridging finance.