In an exclusive interview with DFT, Capital Rise’s lending director Katy Katani (pictured above), revealed that the business was looking to venture into new areas outside of its bread-and-butter market of prime central London real estate as it continued to grow.

“We have seen an increased number of enquiries in outer prime London, which has been very interesting over recent years,” said Katy.

 “I think [this is down to] the effects of Covid and people wanting to move outside of London; there's definitely more demand for country homes.”

In January, CapitalRise established a new £250m funding line aimed at supporting future growth.

Part of its expansion will include branching out into further asset classes outside of prime central London.

“What we are seeing is our loan book increasingly becoming more and more outside of London,” stated Katy.

Hotspots for the lender include the Surrey Hills, Beaconsfield, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, and Cambridgeshire.

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Katy highlighted that the majority of prime central London enquiries were for refurbs, with new builds predominantly outside of London owing partly to the lack of development space.

Commercial-to-residential conversions are also firmly in the crosshairs of Katy and the rest of the team, with the company seeing a lot of activity in hotel to resi conversions.

“As we grow, we're looking to branch out into different asset classes,” explained Katy, who emphasised the importance of understanding market trends and the practicalities of new areas beforehand.

CapitalRise would also look at high-end commercial assets in prime central locations, especially when it comes to utilising post-Covid office environments, while co-living spaces are also beginning to pique the lender’s interest.

“Our bread and butter will always be prime; single houses for us are a no brainer,” Katy said.

“We fund a lot of single, large dwellings but, as we grow — and now that we have bigger funding lines — we need to diversify and grow our loan book.

“And I think the best way of doing that is [by] looking at different asset classes and being a bit more creative.”