Private Bank Bridging Loan for Renovation of Type B Listed Property

The Scenario

Our clients owned a beautiful type B listed property in Scotland valued at £2m that they planned to renovate and move into.  

But without the cash on hand to pay for the significant renovations required (they needed about £700k), they started to explore bridging loans as a method of funding.

They planned to raise a 12-month bridging loan to repay their existing £700k mortgage on the property and fund their renovations. Then, they would repay it with another standard mortgage once complete, secured against the projected gross development value of £3m.

• However, they didn’t need the full loan upfront – they only needed £1m initially to repay their mortgage and start works, with the remaining £400k to be used as and when the project demanded. 
• So, they didn’t want to pay interest on £1.4m from day one, when £400k of that total sum would be sitting in their account. 
• And because it was such a unique and high-value property - and their exit strategy rested on completing renovations - their lending pool was reduced to only a few options in the market. 

The Solution

Recognising the unique nature of this project, we explored a standard bridging route with a well-known lender, but also contacted two private banks in our network that we knew would look at a high value, bespoke case like this. 

The private banks came back with a more competitive bridging rate and offered staged drawdowns to give maximum flexibility for our clients, protecting them from paying interest on funds they weren’t using. 

It’s a case that highlights our ability to source bespoke finance for exceptional situations. Without our expertise navigating top lenders, our clients may have struggled to find a tailored bridging facility like this, or at least paid a lot more in interest by using a different product.