Chris Gardner

Atelier, which specialises in short-term finance for professional residential developers and SME property companies, reached the milestone after posting its strongest ever quarter - £35m lent in the last three months of 2020.

The lender’s record-breaking performance in the final quarter of last year included £11.5m of acquisition funding for the redevelopment of a former care home in North London. The scheme will create more than 30 new homes, including affordable housing, and will refurbish an iconic Edwardian mansion house as its centrepiece.

Atelier is also funding the £6.2m development of eight highly energy-efficient townhouses on a brownfield site in Crystal Palace, Southeast London. The family homes, which are being built by the sustainable developer Placemakers London, will be 40% more energy efficient than current Building Regulations require.

The steady expansion of Atelier’s loan book comes amid strong demand from residential developers and has put the lender on track to have lent more than £200m by the end of 2021.

Atelier Capital Partners has a particular focus on urban regeneration, and the funding of schemes on brownfield sites that deliver a positive impact to their local community.

The lender offers a range of short-term and development finance solutions, for terms of up to 24 months, to fund land acquisition as well as construction and refurbishment work.

The global asset manager M&G Investments is providing capital to support Atelier’s lending and working capital, and Atelier is committed to supporting good Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) outcomes through its choice of schemes.

Coupled with its rapidly growing loan book, Atelier’s distinctive and discerning approach to lending aims to deliver more than just finance, bricks and mortar to Britain’s residential property sector.

Graham Emmett, chief investment officer at Atelier Capital Partners, commented: “We’re proud to have achieved so much in such a short space of time. Atelier Capital Partners has financed an impressive array of residential developments, and we’ve lent more than £100m to a range of schemes of both ambition and quality.

“Atelier formally launched in January 2020, with ambitious goals and a bold strategy for growth. Just weeks later the arrival of COVID delivered a once-in-a-generation shock to the economy, but the quality of our people and our proposition have kept us firmly on track, and we’re now on course to break the £200m barrier before 2021 is out.”

Chris Gardner, chief operating officer at Atelier Capital Partners, added: “Atelier’s success is a testament to the strength and skill of our team, and to the enterprise of our borrowers. We’ve assembled a group of committed professionals from across the development and short-term real estate finance sector who all share our vision and drive.

“The combination of this first-class expertise with Atelier’s institutional funding has cemented our reputation for certain deal execution and powered us to a rate of growth that would be impressive in any market. In the current market, it’s a significant achievement that will inspire us to even greater things in 2021.”