Northern Ireland property finance: Close Brothers expands flexible loans

A property lender has said it has now lent £115m in Northern Ireland, financing 640 new homes over eight years.

Close Brothers Property Finance (CBPF) opened its Belfast office in 2018.

The development finance lender has said it’s now broadening its products here to support peak debt and revolving credit facilities, which would offer more flexibility to borrowers.

It also provides development finance for commercial sector, as well as those in the residential sector, such as purpose-built student accommodation and build to rent.

CBPF said there were significant opportunities for developers in the sector with access to flexible finance, with schemes such as build-to-rent site Loftlines “demonstrating the sector’s maturity”.

Gary Ferris, business development director at CBPF, said: “Northern Ireland is continuing to experience structural undersupply of new homes, particularly in and around Belfast and key commuter locations.

“In the final quarter of last year, new housing starts dropped by almost a third compared to the same period in 2024, however the need for new homes has never been greater.

“As a business we have chosen to expand our product range so that we can give developers in Northern Ireland the backing that they need to grow, to take on more ambitious projects with greater confidence and certainty.”

Close Brothers said it supported Northern Ireland housebuilder WGK Homes with three loan facilities including both bridging and development finance, over the last 18 months.

That included funding to support the development of 10 apartments on Hillsborough Road in Lisburn.

Mr Ferris added: “There is momentum behind Northern Ireland’s living sector, particularly build to rent, and we want to make sure that our customers are in a position to capitalise on this.

“Sites continue to be held up by planning delays and wastewater infrastructure constraints, so building greater flexibility into the products we offer gives them more breathing space to navigate these challenges.

“We’re pleased to also be offering larger facilities to give our customers the confidence to take on bigger, more ambitious schemes.

“It’s extremely gratifying to see housebuilders we’ve been lending to for years scale up their projects and we’re delighted to be able to support that growth.”