Blend Network

Northern Irish housebuilder secures £250,000 from P2P platform



County Down Developments has received a £250,000 facility from Blend Network for the development of four luxury apartments in Bangor, Northern Ireland.


The loan from Blend Network came after the housebuilder was turned down for a loan by Barclays.

However, the high street bank used the government’s bank referral scheme to pass the case onto the scheme’s three designated platforms.

Albert McCann (pictured above, left) and Michael Carnduff (right), directors at County Down Developments, chose to seek funding through the Alternative Business Funding platform which connected them with Blend Network.

“Although we have almost 60 years of combined experience in the construction industry, the company itself was new, so unfortunately, we didn’t meet Barclays’ funding criteria of having a minimum of six projects or four to five years’ construction experience under our belts,” said Michael.

“However, we were pleasantly surprised when, because of the bank referral scheme, Barclays pointed us towards the funding platforms.

“We were expecting crazy interest rates in the region of 35%, but we were wrong.”

Yann Murciano, CEO at Blend Network, said that it was delighted to have supported County Down Developments.

“We’re also very proud to be pioneering such partnerships between a P2P platform and large institutions such as Barclays to help SME property developers.

“This is huge for our market and is taking P2P lending to the next level.”

Roxana Mohammadian-Molina, chief strategy officer at Blend Network, added: “We pride ourselves of delivering double-digit returns for the lenders who are investing anything from £1,000, while at the same time supporting small homebuilders up and down the country who are working hard to build the affordable houses the country urgently needs.”



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