Brickflow, the UK’s first online search engine for development finance loans, today announces its official launch to the market.
Brickflow is a property technology platform which aims to revolutionise the property finance sector by digitally connecting borrowers and lenders in seconds. The company’s mission is to empower property developers by opening up the market and providing the quickest and easiest way for them to secure trusted finance.
Available online, Brickflow’s technology offers wide market visibility and provides instant access to 18 lenders (and counting). All applications are made online and in real-time, with applicants able to build out their developer track record and securely upload supporting documents. One of the major barriers developers face when attempting to secure finance is the pain of having to go through a different onboarding process with every lender. Brickflow removes this barrier by allowing them to showcase themselves and their individual projects on one platform, as well as by inviting lenders to log in and assess the loan opportunity.
Brickflow’s access to a wide spectrum of lenders increases loan opportunities and opens up the availability of sites that developers may think are out of reach. The platform helps developers improve their Return on Capital Employed on every deal by ranking the loans in size and price order.
Not only does Brickflow allow developers to do more with less, it also saves both borrowers and lenders huge amounts of time. As well as its application efficiencies, Brickflow lets developers check the viability of sites online before spending time going to see them. For lenders, the platform’s unique technology also automatically filters out any enquiry which doesn’t meet their criteria, and its uniform presentation of information saves them countless hours and days looking at projects they are unable to fund.
Through its proprietary and time-saving technology, Brickflow aims to complete all development loans within six weeks if required, rather than the average of up to six months via traditional channels.
Brickflow is co-founded by Ian Humphreys, a property finance professional of more than 15 years’ experience, and leading software developer Robert Lange.
Ian Humphreys, Brickflow’s Co-Founder and Head of Lending, said: “It’s well known that the UK has a severe housing shortage and a major reason for this is the challenge many developers face in accessing the best finance for their needs. We aim to solve this challenge by shaking up the development finance market and bringing lending online. Brickflow makes development finance more accessible to developers and their advisers, while at the same time empowering all market stakeholders to work smarter by digitally sharing trusted data and knowledge. By combining extensive market knowledge, the best digital technology and the efficiency of a comparison site, we are offering a revolutionary new way to secure development finance for everyone.”
Terry Woodley, Managing Director, Development Finance at Shawbrook Bank Limited, said: “The presentation of information is key when assessing any new scheme for funding. When the data is clear and accurate we can make the right decisions and act quickly to get the funding out. The team at Brickflow really understand this and always deliver outstanding project appraisals, which gives their clients the very best chance of securing the right funding for their projects.”
Steven Brigly, Director – Property Development, United Trust Bank, said: “Like many development lenders, we receive a considerable number of loan enquiries that don’t meet our criteria. The technology that Brickflow has developed means that more of the loan enquiries I see from them are projects we can consider funding. This saves us time and resources and enables me to spend more time supporting my existing customers and progressing applications with a greater chance of success.”
Shawn Rea, Chief Operating Officer at Sitio Homes, said: “Working with Brickflow has been very good for us. It’s helped us see all the options in one place on a digital platform, which is very important for comparability purposes. What’s even more critical is that the team at Brickflow managed to ensure we got a better deal and, in fact, we got a 1% margin improvement through using the preferred lenders it works with. My experience with Brickflow has surpassed my expectations.”
