Assetz Capital sets out targets to surpass 1,000 new homes funded in Northern Ireland by 2028, as it’s revealed the region is leading the UK housing market
Northern Ireland continues to outperform every other UK region on house price growth according to the latest Nationwide House Price Index. Assetz Capital, the specialist in property lending, says the focus must now shift from demand to delivery.
Since entering the Northern Ireland market in 2017, Assetz has provided £140m of lending to local developers, supporting the delivery of 800 homes across the region. The property lender is now targeting support for more than 1,000 homes by 2027/28, reflecting its continued commitment to backing SME housebuilders across the UK.
According to the new data from Nationwide, Northern Ireland recorded annual house price growth of 8.6% in Q2 2026, making it the strongest performing housing market in the UK and well ahead of the national average of 2.2%.
While these figures, and the latest findings from the University of Ulster’s House Price Index, point to continued buyer confidence and reinforces the strength of the Northern Irish market, it also highlights the ongoing shortage of new housing delivery and challenges restricting supply across private and social housing sectors.
Assetz, which has funded almost 9,000 UK homes since 2013, echoes this sentiment, stating the biggest challenge facing the market is bringing forward enough new homes to meet demand.
“Northern Ireland continues to demonstrate some of the strongest housing market fundamentals anywhere in the UK, however national market trends only tell part of the story. Each local market has its own opportunities and challenges,” says Ciaran McGivern, Regional Director North at Assetz Capital.
“We know from this new data that the demand is there - buyers are active and there’s a clear need for new homes. Our regional challenge doesn’t lie in generating demand, or lack of finance to support developers. The SME housebuilder market is still navigating infrastructure constraints, particularly around wastewater capacity, alongside planning delays and higher development costs, all limiting the pace of new housing build starts.”
"This environment creates an important opportunity for SME housebuilders who play a vital role in delivering the homes Northern Ireland needs. Our role at Assetz is to unlock that potential and provide the funding certainty, local expertise and practical support that helps those developers keep projects moving from acquisition through to completion."
As the specialist in property lending, Assetz Capital supports developers through every stage of the development lifecycle, providing Development Finance, Refurbishment Finance and Commercial Mortgages designed around the realities of today's market. With regional Relationship Directors embedded across the UK, the lender combines local market knowledge with pragmatic lending decisions to help developers unlock opportunities that others may overlook.