The facility — agreed on an 18-month term — will be used to fund the first stage of a three-phase project to deliver 44 housing units in an area that was a former refuse site and currently includes a disused incinerator plant and ancillary buildings.

The entire development aims to create a total of 108 units.

As a loan for all units would have been outside Blackfinch’s lending criteria, the lender and developer worked closely to create a lending structure that would ease cashflow and manage overall project risk.

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The resulting three-phase plan means that the lender can provide funding for phase one, with build project milestones put in place. 

Blackfinch will also be funding the land purchase for the second phase of the project (which does not require development funding), which includes affordable housing provision.

John Hartigan, senior investment manager at Blackfinch (pictured above), said: “This is our third development loan with Elemento Group, an experienced developer. 

“We were happy to invest the time to explore alternative structures to make the deal work for all parties.”