Assetz Capital says CBILS helped NI property market bounce back
An Assetz Capital relationship director has claimed that government support, such as the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS), has reinvigorated the property market in Northern Ireland.
Morgan McCandless, a relationship director covering Northern Ireland for the peer-to-peer lending platform, said that Covid and Brexit had the potential to be instantly detrimental for the Northern Ireland property market.
He said CBILS was necessary to absorb the shock of the pandemic and provided an opportunity for borrowers to continue to function, while supporting the local economy, whether that be through contractors, agents, solicitors and quantity surveyors, who were also indirect beneficiaries.
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“The bounce back in the NI market has been remarkable and contrary to what might be expected, the residential market has been reinvigorated to some extent by the government’s supporting initiatives,” McCandless said in a blog on Assetz Capital’s website.
“It’s particularly encouraging to see the apparent level demand for family homes at realistic and sustainable prices across most of NI – presumably driven to some extent by those intending to work more from home and so able live in a more rural setting, with more space, a better work/life balance and where value for money can be hard to ignore…
“Assetz are now accredited under the recovery loan scheme and are again assisting borrowers in the NI market by stepping up to provide much needed funding in a market where mainstream lenders are not fulfilling their traditional function.”
This follows Northern Ireland’s fintech trade body FintechNI earlier this week setting out a three-year plan to attract more than £25m of foreign direct investment into the country.
