OakNorth Bank – the UK bank powered by the OakNorth platform –  has completed an additional £20m loan-on-loan facility to Hilltop Credit Partners, a West-End based specialist funding partner.  

Led by CEO Paul Oberschneider who has more than 25 years of experience in property development, asset management and financial structuring, Hilltop Credit Partners is a specialist funding partner for small and mid-sized residential property developers and housebuilders across Britain. The newly increased £50m loan-on-loan facility will support Hilltop’s fast growing real estate development funding pipeline. 

Since its launch two years ago, Hilltop Credit Partners has been helping housing developers who know their local markets but need access to tailored financing solutions to fund their projects. Hilltop’s management team includes former developers and finance experts, and together they have successfully originated and managed value-add and opportunistic residential deals through challenging market cycles. The fund is backed by the global real estate investment firm Round Hill Capital.

Mohith Sondhi, Senior Director, Debt Finance at OakNorth Bank, said: “Our deep knowledge of the property sector and the ability to provide an attractive financing package tailored to Hilltop’s requirements, helped us to distinguish ourselves throughout the competitive process. We look forward to building further on our partnership with Hilltop Credit Partners. Combined with Round Hill Capital’s commitment and expertise in this space, Hilltop understands what it’s like to be in the developer’s shoes and how important it is to react to the inevitable market changes that can occur during a project especially during these unprecedented times.” 

Tiger Craft, Partner and CIO at Hilltop Credit Partners said: “Demand from residential developers continues to be strong, and we are encouraged by the strength we have seen in the UK residential market over the past several months. We have a growing pipeline with great sponsors, while the structural imbalance between the demand for new housing and the availability of capital to fund it continues to grow. For SME developers, securing funding has been needlessly frustrating, time-consuming and expensive for far too long. At Hilltop, our entire process is focused on helping developers move quickly to acquire sites, build homes and sell them in a fast, cost-efficient manner. 

Paul Oberschneider, CEO at Hilltop Credit Partners, added: “We are delighted to have increased our facility with OakNorth Bank, which shows their confidence and commitment to our business. Like us, they have a demonstrable understanding of the needs of sophisticated investors, and with property comprising a significant portion of their own lending portfolio, they have a deep understanding of the underlying asset class. This sets OakNorth Bank apart from many of the other banks in the market.”