EU Business News August 2017

16 EU BUSINESS NEWS / August 2017 , Amicus Property Finance Completes Loan for Residential Schemes Amicus Property Finance, the specialist short termproperty lender, on 22nd August announces that it has completed a deal with property developers, the Ladson Group, to purchase two previously council- owned commercial buildings in the heart of Preston city centre. Winckley House is a vacant 43,000 sq. ft. four/part six storey office building located in the centre of Preston and has now obtained planning permission to be converted into 76 apartments (34 units have already pre-sold). Guild House is a vacant five storey 28,000 sq. ft. office building located in the Winckley Square area of Preston City Centre which has been vacant for five years. The building has obtained planning permission to be converted into 46 apartments (all units have been pre-sold). Nearby Winckley Square has also seen a significant boost having recently undergone a £1.2m lottery funded regeneration. The area is home to several council owned buildings that have been left vacant for years and Amicus is delighted to support the Ladson Group in rejuvenating these old buildings and in doing so, breathing new life into the surrounding area. Yasin Patel, divisional director at Amicus Property Finance, said: “We are delighted to have provided funding for these two sites which would have no doubt become more and more run-down without the vision of Guy Ladson at Ladson Group. We were really impressed with Guy and to complete within two weeks helped the site to secure more than 60% of pre-sales. “We continue to look to fund works required to turnaround historical properties which bring buildings back to life and make the surrounding areas much more appealing. Indeed, through our new Manchester office we have a strong on-the-ground base to fund local projects and service clients who are often overlooked by more mainstream lenders.” Guy Ladson, managing director at Ladson Group, commented: “Amicus was able to adapt to our needs, understanding our business model to the core and tailor the financing we required to fit around us. With this funding in place, we are excited about the future for these two buildings and hope we can maintain a sustained and successful relationship with Amicus.” Earlier in August, Amicus Property Finance announced record lending in July at £72 million. The firm cited a confident and buoyant short-term property lending market as well as having expanded its offering further across the country with the opening of the Manchester office last year as key factors. Amicus has seen a strong first half of 2017 having provided more than £500 million of short term property loans last year, as it further expands its customer base among brokers, professional landlords and developers seeking finance for residential and commercial real estate assets. amicuspropertyfinance.co.uk