Exclusive: Assetz to receive £1bn fund to aid small housebuilders
Aros Kapital will inject over £1bn into lender Assetz Capital to fund lending to small businesses, including housebuilders, over the next three years.
Aros will contribute at least £750m to lending, in addition to around £350m already pledged, an update shared exclusively with CityA.M. revealed.
Thanks to the investment, Assetz is readying to offer its most competitive rates so far.
The business hopes to near its annual lending target of £1bn.
Extra funding will allow the lender to offer loans ranging from £150k to £20m at what it described as record low rates for small and medium-sized businesses.
This would place the business in direct competition with challenger banks.
Stuart Law, CEO of the Assetz group, said: “Like us, Aros is keen to be at the forefront of providing financing for businesses seeking to address important challenges, including encouraging the use of modern methods of construction for housebuilding to ensure improved environmental sustainability and meet broader market needs.”
The cash injection will also aid the provision of commercial mortgages to smaller firms, especially within the care and supported living sectors.
Assetz Capital hopes to hit a £1.5bn lending run-rate in 2023. It is targeting this at the revival of smaller housebuilders.
The number of smaller firms is currently just 2,500 companies, compared to the 1980s when numbers of businesses hit 12,000.
Outlining its goals earlier this year, Assetz said it was keen to accelerate a delivery of low carbon housing and aid an increase in the provision of much needed supported living accommodation to address a growing crisis in the care sector.
Gustav Rocklinger, CEO at Aros Kapital, said: We see this as a long-term partnership based on a mutual desire to support SME growth in the UK and promote innovation in key sectors such as housebuilding and are excited to see what we’re able to achieve together going forward.”
It comes as pandemic-related loan schemes for small businesses are winding down this spring.