Thistle Finance and LendInvest rescue developer from ‘default rate’ at eleventh hour

By Bridging Loan Directory 3rd December 2017

Specialist packager, Thistle Finance, has announced it arranged an eleventh hour £1.3m development exit finance loan through LendInvest, the specialist mortgage lender, for a Berkshire-based developer.

The developer was set to move from his standard development finance rate onto a more punitive default rate on 1 December, which would have added 0.75% to his monthly interest payments.

But the LendInvest development exit finance loan, at roughly 70% LTV, will save him 0.5% on the standard rate he had been paying. He now has 12 months to sell the office-to-resi conversion of 7 flats at his leisure with no early repayment charges.

Thistle Finance is a new Edinburgh-based packager that plans to restore the sector’s old-fashioned values. Thistle’s founders, Mark Dyason and Nathan Ellis-Calcott, are offering a more broker-friendly, grass roots packager experience across the UK.

Chris Pallis, Specialist Finance Consultant, Thistle Finance, commented:

“Switching to LendInvest’s development exit finance loan will not only take financial pressure off the client as he markets the units, but free up capital for future projects. The LendInvest team were as professional as ever and worked with us seamlessly to get the finance in place before the developer fell onto the punitive default rate.”

Ian Boden, Sales Director, LendInvest, added:

“It can be costly for developers to remain on their development finance loan when they have finished construction and are at the sales end of the project. The flexible product we’ve introduced enables experienced developers to move onto better terms in order to maximise the profit from their projects.”

Mark Dyason, pictured, Managing Director, Thistle Finance, commented:

“The clock was ticking on this deal but we managed to get it across the line just in time, saving the developer a significant amount in interest. You wonder how many developers are unaware that a more competitive product like this exists for when they have already created the value and are looking to sell.”