In late January I was about to complete on a development deal, but the wheels fell off as Covid concerns mounted and the funder we had sourced was unable to progress. 12 months on, we are just about to finally complete the deal with the same funder benefiting from CBILS support, after many months of hard work and exploring Plan Bs and Plan Cs.
It would have been so easy for all parties to walk away but perseverance has paid off and this, together with the resilience and sheer dogged determination shown by developers and their advisors and funders, in my opinion sums up 2020.
All of us have emerged with more grey hairs but I think our relationships have become stronger. We are all a little more patient but also more creative in how we look at deals / structuring with a positive outlook for 2021.
Nothing typifies this more than in our sister lending business PMJ Capital. We continued to support our clients right through Covid, the key being to make sensible decisions working with our borrowers based on medium term objectives as opposed to short-term knee-jerk reactions. It paid off in that schemes progressed, and sales have been secured in a housing market that has thankfully remained robust and upbeat.
But the intangible benefit to our borrower relationships cannot be underestimated and we are now working with these clients on new schemes and opportunities as we are rewarded for the trust, we placed in each other over recent months.
Indeed, I think opportunity will be a key theme as we go into next year. Clients have continued to work on new schemes during 2020, house price data is holding up as are valuations and market sentiment. With renewed appetite from funders the pipeline of work is strong across the SME housebuilding sector. From both a Cowgills and PMJ Capital perspective I relish the challenge!
Disclaimer
The information was correct at time of publishing but may now be out of date.
