During Q4 2017, nine housebuilding companies received finance from Wellesley with an average loan size of £12m.

The announcement comes after Wellesley repositioned its business in 2016 by focusing on the more affordable end of the housing market.

Over 70% of the 700 new homes funded are intended to be sold for £300,000 or less.

“We identified back in 2016 the strong demographics supporting demand for lower-value houses and the need for such housing right across the UK, so today less than 20% of Wellesley’s loans are for London

housing,” said Graham Wellesley, CEO of Wellesley (pictured above).

•   Wellesley Finance provides £8.6m development loan
•   Lender provides £39m facility for Manchester development
•   P2P platform provides £3.4m for luxury development

“We are also making fewer but larger loans to quality, independent housebuilders.

“The continued strong demand for our loans demonstrates the appropriateness of our strategy.”

Andrew Turnbull, managing director of Wellesley, added: “In 2016, we delivered a 4.49% investment return on average to our investors and, so far in 2017, the investment return is expected to be similar.

“Wellesley’s busy final quarter with £107m of loan commitments indicates that the lower end of the housebuilding market remains robust.

“In the medium and longer term, this market segment is underpinned by strong demographics.”