Environmentally-friendly housebuilder secures coronavirus funding lifeline

A Leeds-based housebuilder that pioneers the Passivhaus standard for environmentally-friendly homes has secured a vital loan to help them through the coronavirus crisis.

Pure Haus needed a funding lifeline to continue building one of the few UK developments in which all the homes will meet this strict standard. When a larger funding facility, vital to the work, was delayed because of the coronavirus crisis the entire Pure Meadows project was put at risk.

But a £50,000 Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan has given Pure Haus the breathing-space it needed while other funding channels are finalised. The funding will protect four jobs and help create four new ones.

The firm made an application for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan (CBIL) to the Business Enterprise Fund (BEF) on a Friday– and received its £50,000 bridging loan on the following Thursday.

Passivhaus buildings use very little energy for heating and cooling thanks to rigorous design principles developed by the Passivhaus Institute in Germany, and can be certified through a quality assurance process.

David Bradley-Bowles, a director of Pure Haus said: ‘BEF were easy to deal with, the application was straight forward, and the funds were quickly in our account. This is a bit of a lifeline whilst the other funding channels are being finalised,

Steve Waud, BEF’s CEO, added, ‘Being small allows us to be incredibly responsive and agile. We have responded to a vast number of referrals in the market for assistance during this difficult time. The CBILS facility from British Business Bank has been a fantastic opportunity to help as many small businesses as we can.

‘We have a fantastic team who are vastly experienced and able to assist. So please contact us if you need help.’

BEF is a community development finance institution (CDFI) specifically designed to help organisations and communities with finance when they need it most.

Photo Credit – PureHaus