New senior hire at Landmark Group/LDS
Landmark Group has announced the appointment of another new senior team member, with development finance expert, Mark Roberts, joining as relationship director to lead the growth for group entity LDS.
Mark joins Landmark Group from Assetz Capital, one of the UK’s largest peer-to-peer lenders, where he spent three years and rose to the position of relationship director.
In total, Mark has over 20 years’ experience in the development finance space and brings a wealth of experience having transacted over £1bn debt for a variety of lenders including Investec, Nationwide and Assetz Capital.
In his new role Mark will spearhead the growth of LDS which launched a unique online proptech engine, which eliminates the growing problem of development finance for SME developers by providing a Sales Guarantee to purchase new homes built by SME housebuilders.
LDS’ new proptech engine takes less than two minutes to use, and instantly provides development finance brokers, housebuilders, or lenders with a bespoke Sales Guarantee proposal for a development.
So far in 2021, £424m of Sales Guarantee proposals have been requested and sent out via the LDS proptech engine.
Backed by Britain’s largest housing warranty providers NHBC, Checkmate and ICW, LDS can underwrite the financing of sites, guaranteeing to acquire all units at a set price. It is believed to be the first proptech solution of its kind ever launched in the property market.
The use of Sales Guarantees can allow for a 77% reduction in cash contributions from SME developers as well as 170% increase in return on investment on a typical scheme.
LDS Sales Guarantees also remove the need for mezzanine or similar finance options by releasing interest free funds to developers on exchange. This also has a marked improvement on the time taken to process loans by removing a layer of unnecessary paperwork and legal requirements.
LDS aims to help double the number of homes built by SME housebuilders in Britain within the next five years, equating to over 25,000 additional houses and an additional £8-10bn of new development a year.
As relationship director Mark will call upon his experience and expertise as both a lender and broker in the development finance markets to help LDS further grow their relationships in both sectors.
Mark will also be responsible for managing the burgeoning number of brokers and lenders using the LDS Sales Guarantees online engine.
Mark joins at a time of accelerating growth for LDS parent, Landmark Group, which had a record-breaking 2020. The group raised more than £70m of new debt, increased its core investment portfolio towards £150m value and made a number of key senior hires.
Commenting on his appointment he said: “I had become aware of the LDS offering as part of my former role in development finance and was quickly drawn to LDS’ mission to reduce risk for lenders, brokers and developers to help SME housebuilders to builds thousands more homes every year.
“LDS has the potential to transform the financing of residential development. There is a huge market for Sales Guarantees with daily demand from developers, lenders and finance brokers – all looking to reduce their risk and drive returns. I was pleased to be selected for the role and have hit the ground running, bringing forward multiple new housing developments in my first few weeks.
“The use of our Sales Guarantee changes how developers and lenders approach new sites. The release of our 10% cash deposit to developers for use towards costs is an accelerator to get on site quicker, access larger sites and provide much needed new housing. I have developed a large network of finance brokers over the last 20 years which is a key target market for us. LDS is proven to increase success rates, reduce completion times and enhance fees for brokers – a compelling treble. Mark (Hawthorn) has set some very ambitious targets and I am relishing being part of LDS.”
Mark Hawthorn, CEO Landmark Group said: “We have known for some time that a major target audience for us are finance brokers and lenders. This is a connected yet distinctly different market from the property development industry, where most of our experience and contacts are. It was key that we brought the right person in at this stage and Mark has already proven his value in record time.
“We are becoming increasingly busy, as the markets come to understand the inherent benefits of Sales Guarantees. LDS removes the primary risks of demand and pricing for developers and their lenders, instilling the confidence to bring forward much needed new housing. In the increasingly uncertain world we live in this is nothing short of market changing.”
