Each construction program will have it's own guidelines but most do require that you have cash reserves on hand after closing - at least 2 times your proposed payment, and some lenders were requiring 3, 6, 9, 12 and even 18 months of reserves depending on the loan amount. In addition to the reserves and equity in the land, some lenders actually want you to make a hard money contribution too (usually of at least 5%). The reason all of these additional requirements are in place is because you are borrowing money on something that doesn't exist yet, a lot of lenders got majorly screwed on construction loans during the easy credit days of yester-year, so you can thank the shady borrowers, loan officers, appraisers, greedy lenders, etc. for causing those guidelines to tighten. They should have never been super easy in the first place though, I always thought it was amazing that someone could qualify for a construction loan to build their dream home without having any funds out of pocket, money saved up, etc.
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