Investec Structured Property Finance

Investec provides £45m facility for PRS scheme



Investec Structured Property Finance has provided Comer Homes with a £45m facility to support the development of 311-apartments in Bracknell.


Comer Homes will transform Royal Winchester House – the former site of 3M’s headquarters – into 311 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom private rented sector (PRS) flats.

Work on the development (pictured above) has already begun, with completion scheduled for 2020.

The five-year loan is the second facility Investec has provided to Comer Homes, following on from a loan for 168 apartments in Harrow sold to a PRS operator in 2015.

Brian Comer, chairman at Comer Group, said it was delighted to receive the support and expertise from the Investec team.

“We look forward to bringing this prestigious development to fruition with their continued support.

“This project – designed by an internationally renowned team – exemplifies the future aspirations of Bracknell as the jewel of the Thames Valley, which the Comer Group is proud to be a part of.”

Robert Sheppard, head of portfolio at Comer Group, added that Investec had provided flexible and intuitive engagement, which it found was of great benefit to its construction model and the ever-changing housing environment.

“We have been able to adjust procurement and management modelling parameters in order to optimise performance during the construction phase.

“The ability of our finance partners to allow us to innovate and to understand our objectives, while still adhering to their own remit, has greatly assisted in keeping our construction model lean and focused.”

Steve Cook at Investec Structured Property Finance said that as PRS schemes continued to grow, it was seeing more investors identify opportunities outside London offering favourable terms.

“Our ability to provide innovative financing that spans the borrowers intended lifecycle has been recognised by Comer Homes, with whom we have built a strong relationship following the success of Harrow.

“The financial and logistical benefits for a client in being able to have the option of a seamless transition from a development to investment loan with the same lender are numerous, and we anticipate this being an increasing feature of our loan book during 2018, with a supportive macro environment and the ongoing retrenchment by traditional lenders creating this market opportunity.”



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