A new partnership between Squirrel and Master Builders will enable eligible builders to fund the full cost of pre-sold turnkey projects without contributing their own capital, helping preserve capital for their next project.
100% Turnkey Funding, launched today at Constructive 2026, targets a common financing constraint: even when a home has a committed buyer, the builder must still fund the land and build through to settlement.
The proposition was developed by Squirrel exclusively in partnership with Master Builders.
Access to capital has consistently been one of the biggest issues facing building businesses. Master Builders’ State of the Sector research shows it has ranked among the sector’s top three pressures for four consecutive years, identified by 78% of respondents in 2026.
Under the model, Squirrel can fund 100% of the land cost and 100% of construction costs less a 20% implied builder margin. Depending on the builder’s actual margin, this can enable the entire project cost to be funded without the builder contributing their own capital.
This is a significant change to the traditional turnkey model, where builders can have significant capital tied up in homes that are already sold, limiting their ability to secure the next site or get the next project underway.
Master Builders Chief Executive Ankit Sharma says the partnership responds directly to what building businesses are experiencing.
"Access to finance remains a real constraint for the sector. A builder can have sound projects and customers ready to go, but if their capital is tied up until those homes settle, they may not have the capacity to act on the next opportunity," Sharma says.
"By bringing together capable Master Builders, the Master Build Completion Guarantee and a funding model that recognises those protections, this partnership can help good building businesses keep projects moving. The potential flow-on is more local work and more quality homes being built."
For the buyer, the process remains straightforward. They sign an unconditional Sale and Purchase Agreement and pay their deposit. Squirrel provides the funding behind the eligible project, the builder completes the home as usual, and the buyer settles when it is finished. The Master Build Completion Guarantee is an important part of the structure.
Founder and Group Head of Property Finance, John Bolton says the product changes the funding behind a turnkey project, not the buyer's experience.
“You can’t build the next house when all your money is tied up in the last one.
That’s the problem we kept hearing from builders. They’ve got good projects, they’ve got buyers, and they’ve got the appetite to keep building, but access to capital puts the brakes on. We built 100% Turnkey Funding to help change that.”
Squirrel arranges around $4 billion in home loans each year and funds more than $1 billion in construction lending annually, with over 1,600 development projects funded to date. Working across both builder finance and buyer finance allowed Squirrel to identify the gap that this new product is designed to address.
100% Turnkey Funding is designed for eligible pre-sold turnkey projects with a genuine buyer, an unconditional Sale and Purchase Agreement and a deposit. Builders and projects must meet Squirrel's lending criteria, and the product will not be suitable for every builder or development.
100% Turnkey Funding will be available to eligible Master Builders from 5 October 2026.
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For more information, please contact media@squirrel.co.nz.