Octopus Real Estate provides £36.8m loan for residential development

By Bridging Loan Directory 13th July 2023

Octopus Real Estate, part of Octopus Investments and a leading UK specialist real estate lender and investor, has provided a development loan of £36.8m to repurpose and extend a vacant office block into 174 private residential apartments.

The loan provided to Sheen Lane Developments will finance the conversion of a vacant office block in Addlestone, Surrey, into four studio apartments, 158 one-bedroom apartments, and 12 two-bedroom apartments, with communal areas and 235 parking spaces.

The building will also be extended by two additional floors in order to maximise the number of units delivered to market.

As the project will repurpose the current structure of the office block, the embodied carbon of the new development will be significantly lower than that of an equivalent ground up development.

In addition, the development will be fitted with a significant solar panel array, EV chargers, and as many materials will be reused on site as possible. Where this isn’t possible, existing materials will be recycled.

Nick White, Head of Development Origination, Octopus Real Estate, commented:

“At Octopus Real Estate we are always keen to support and collaborate with developers that share our mission to bring high quality homes to the UK.

Repurposing existing buildings where possible has a significant impact on the embodied carbon of the development, this is therefore an excellent way to bring homes to the local community in an environmentally friendly way.

Sheen Lane Developments have an incredible track record in successfully delivering office to residential conversions, so we are thrilled to be financing their vision for these new homes.”

Martin Tynan, Sheen Lane Developments, said:

“We are delighted to have made this acquisition with financing from Octopus Real Estate.

The conversion of commercial properties to residential is often met by opposition and scepticism but, when done properly, and in sustainable residential locations, the end result can be fantastic.

We are excited to get started, and bring forward these much needed homes to Addlestone.”