Aberdeenshire housebuilder Bancon Group has secured a £25.5 million banking facility with Santander which will allow the firm to overcome the “depressed” north east marketplace.

The move to extend its relationship with its existing lender has been seen as a vote of confidence in the region which Bancon acknowledged has been troubling of late.

John Irvine, the chief executive of Bancon, said the extension would give the firm a “strong foundation” while acknowledging “the current economic climate in the north-east of Scotland”.

He said: “There is no doubt that the Aberdeen housing market is depressed and, like all housebuilders in the region, we are feeling the impact of that to some extent.

“However, there are still opportunities for the right developments as demonstrated by our site launch at Oaklands, Banchory where the first phase has just sold out in three weeks, with ongoing strong interest in future releases.

“In addition our other sectors continue to show good levels of activity across Scotland and the North of England as evidenced by recent significant contract wins in our construction and timber frame businesses.”

Bancon Group has Bancon switched to the Spanish-owned bank in 2014 after its previous lender, National Australia Bank, had forced it to refinance.

The firm, which embarked on a five year growth strategy in 2015 with Mr Irvine’s appointment, said it has completed a restructure across the group and made several senior appointments to strengthen the management team.