SPF and LendInvest complete £14m of development funding

By Bridging Loan Directory 28th February 2022

SPF Private Clients and LendInvest have successfully partnered across three deals in a week, worth a total of £14m of debt. The successful completions included a planning bridge, residential development and sales exit loans.

The acquisition and development loan facility totalled £9.75m of debt which assisted the borrower with funding for the construction of 18 luxury flats in Radlett with a GDV of £15m. LendInvest provided the experienced property investor with a facility at 65% LTV, taking two months from application to completion.

The two highly complex bridging deals, undertaken on behalf of another client, totalled £4.2m of debt on one site which comprised planning and development exit loans.

The site in Cornwall, which had been put into receivership by the existing lender, comprised a completed development of 12 residential units, an old County Hall and a cleared site to the rear.

The principal client, a foreign national, had completed the development of 12 residential units and required a facility to allow him to take control of the site again, sell the built units and obtain planning consent for a residential scheme of potentially up to 75 units.

The new LendInvest loan facility enabled the borrower to purchase the site again, refinance the existing bridging debt and part of the mezzanine finance, with the provider of the latter remaining as a second-charge holder.

The development exit loan was secured at 75% LTV and the planning loan at 65% LTV. The new loans, across a 12-month term, will enable the borrower to sell the remainder of the completed units and hopefully obtain planning permission.

The borrower has partnered with a regional housebuilder in a joint venture to assist with obtaining planning and to build the scheme once this is secured.

The presence of the very reputable JV partner helped to assuage any initial concerns on the scheme.

Dan O’Neil, director of Real Estate – Debt Advisory at SPF Private Clients, said:

‘Our long-standing and successful relationship with LendInvest was crucial to the success of these deals, particularly the bridge finance cases, which were particularly challenging.

In addition to the fact that we were financing a foreign national with a site in receivership at high leverage, we had also been let down by another bridging lender during the process at a late stage.

As always, LendInvest were fast, flexible and their deal execution was second-to-none.’

Steve Larkin, head of Development Finance at LendInvest, said:

‘We have worked with SPF on bridging and development deals for many years and understand and appreciate each other’s position in complex transactions like these.

To close three deals in the space of a few days brought its own challenges; one was particularly complex involving senior and junior lender redemptions, while the other was time constrained from a contractual perspective.

Dan and I made sure we were always available to discuss issues and jump on calls at a moment’s notice, which can be critical with the number of external stakeholders involved.

We enjoy working with SPF and already have a number of new deals lined up – long may it continue.’