Norfolk house builder Abel Homes is pressing ahead with a project to build 122 homes in Norfolk after securing a new finance deal.

The Watton-based company is currently working on projects which will see a total of 122 new homes built, including in Shipdham.

The business has seen strong sales despite a difficult market, and it has also struck a new finance deal with Lloyds TSB Commercial.

Abel has agreed the undisclosed finance deal at a time when most of the big high street banks have signed up to the government's Funding for Lending scheme, designed to stimulate the economy by making cheaper loans available to firms and individuals

Tony Abel, managing director of Abel Homes, last year spoke out about the problems home builders have getting access to finance at a regional Federation of Small Businesses conference.

He said: 'Tight financial restraints remain big issues for all house builders, so we are delighted to have signed a new deal with Lloyds TSB Commercial which has enabled us to be building more new homes at one time than we have ever done before. We are pleased that the bank were happy with the detail of our operation and therefore came up with a finance package for us in a sector where confidence is still low.'

He said: 'There is a pent up need for new homes, I have confidence in our product - and this is proof of that. We continue to find that our ability as a small, local house builder to be flexible, in terms of designing and building efficient homes that the market actually wants, is helping us buck the trend and maintain a good level of sales.

'Whilst many house builders are sitting on land waiting for better times, we believe we should be building, to provide both much-needed homes for families in Norfolk, and employment for our local workforce.'

The firm has just laid the first brick at a new development in Shipdham which will see 43 family homes built right in the centre of the village; it has also started a second phase of its Watton site, which will see 33 new homes built in addition to the 46 already underway in Phase One.

David Marlow, relationship director at Lloyds TSB Commercial, said: 'The business is operating successfully in an uncertain market, with its expanding portfolio meaning the company is busier than ever before.'

annabelle.dickson@archant.co.uk