The bank’s development finance division lent £197.8m in the six months to the end of March 2020, compared to £160.7m in the same period last year. 

Almost all of Paragon’s customers’ development sites have reopened and the bank has been funding new deals during the crisis.

The results stated that while levels of lending became more "subdued" in March, demand for new housing appears to have "rebounded", with longer-term sentiment among the bank's customers "less negative" than might be expected. 

It also revealed that new projects continued to commence after the period end, while work continued on the majority of development sites throughout the crisis.

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“We had a strong first half of the financial year and that has continued into the second half, despite the challenges coronavirus presented to the sector,” said Robert Orr, development finance managing director at Paragon (pictured above).

“Looking forward, we are confident in the prospects for the market.

“The demand for new housing will remain into the future, and smaller developers want to work with a bank that is consistent, financially strong, and has the experience and expertise to support their business.”

Paragon is set to expand its geographical presence to support housebuilders across England, complementing its core South East market. 

“We have been growing our presence outside of the South East over the past two years and we will look to accelerate that going forward,” Robert added.