Building more than one? That's a different loan.

Development loans

Development finance is for people putting up more than one dwelling at a time, or building to sell rather than to live in. Two townhouses on a subdivided back section, a row of six, or a spec build you intend to have on the market the month it gets its code compliance certificate. It is a different conversation to a standard construction loan, because the lender is no longer looking at your salary and a completed home. They are looking at the whole project.

What matters changes accordingly. Lenders want to see the total development cost against the gross realisation, how much of your own equity is going in, what the build contract and programme look like, and how the units get sold or refinanced at the end. Presales carry real weight on larger sites. So does your track record, and the contingency you have allowed for the things that always come up.

Where the money usually comes from

We work with the main banks, and they are worth testing on every deal, particularly if you have presales, a strong balance sheet and a fixed price contract with a builder they know. When a bank fits, it is normally the cheapest money available.

In practice though, most development lending we arrange sits with non-bank lenders. They take a project view rather than a policy view, they will go to higher loan to cost ratios, and they move at a speed that matters when you are holding land and paying interest on it. They cost more, and that cost belongs in your feasibility from day one rather than as a surprise later.

Our job is to work out which of those two routes your project actually suits, and to tell you honestly when the numbers do not support either. Fees on development lending vary by deal and we will set ours out clearly before you commit to anything.

Our office is at 3/24 Dublin Street in Christchurch and we work with clients right across New Zealand. Whether the site is in Selwyn, Waimakariri or somewhere else entirely, a 15 minute conversation early — before you have gone unconditional on the land — is worth far more than one after.