Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) has completed a development finance facility, valued at £3.2m, to fund the construction of five properties with "exemplary" environmental ratings on farmland in Oxfordshire.

The project involved the demolition of existing farm buildings at Andersey Farm in Wantage, Oxfordshire to accommodate the five new properties.

The develop was determined to deliver the properties with high energy efficiency ratings, a feature which HTB said is "rare" to find in rural areas.

The lender added that the team effort between the developer, the group of professionals they assembled around the project and its head of origination, Rob Syrett, meant that they could "confidently pursue" their environmental targets.

Mortgage broker at Helix Financial Partners, which introduced the deal, Adam Stiles, said: "This was a highly unusual case because of the environmental focus from the developer. It’s really unusual to secure such high energy efficiency ratings on rural properties, but the developer was clear about what they wanted to achieve.

"HTB excels in delivering a personal service on development cases, getting to know the borrower and understand their plans, which is why they were the perfect funding partner on this project."

Head of distribution for development finance at HTB, Scott Apps, added: "HTB is committed to improving the efficiency status of housing stock across the UK, so while this was an unusual case it was one we were keen to work on.

"We are proud to have built a broad team of regional lending directors, who are able to bring their own local knowledge and expertise to determining the viability of potential projects. That experience is also crucial when it comes to working with inexperienced developers, as was the case here - even if a developer doesn’t have an extensive portfolio, if they have a quality team around them then we will look for ways to support them."

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