Octane Capital

Octane Capital launches – but with no products




Newly formed bridging lender Octane Capital has officially launched today (3rd May) – however don't expect to see a product sheet.

Instead, Octane revealed to Bridging & Commercial that it will be pricing each loan application according to risk.

Jonathan Samuels, Octane’s CEO (pictured above, third right), said that rather than be constrained by a restrictive price-to-LTV matrix, it had decided to price for risk.

“That’s what authentic bridging was always about, but in many corners of the industry it seems to have been forgotten.

“Our goal is to return bridging to its roots, while retaining the professionalism and transparency that have emerged since 2009.

“It’s what we’re calling the third generation of bridging – the best bits of the two previous generations combined.”

Octane will be focusing on complex, non-standard loans and larger deals across the residential and commercial bridging, bridge-to-let, bridge-to-sell, and heavy and light refurbishment markets.

The Pamplona-backed lender will also be opening its doors to the development finance sector from the third quarter of 2017.

While Octane is headed up by Dragonfly Property Finance (now Octopus Property) alumni, don’t expect the proposition to be ‘Dragonfly Part Two’.

“Bridging has changed beyond recognition in the past eight years and we sensed the need to change with it,” said Mark Posniak, managing director of Octane (pictured above, third left).

“Having looked at the market, we felt the current trend of low-margin, high-volume lending — pricing on LTV and LTV alone — is a dangerous game that won’t end well.

“Instead we’re going to focus on complex loans that the growing ranks of vanilla lenders shy away from because they are out of their comfort zones.

“…We’re keen to take on the most complex loans the market can throw at us.”

Octane will lend between £100,000 and £25m and “well beyond”, and will be adopting a ‘partnership model’ where it will work closely with brokers and master brokers to help their clients achieve their goals.

The lender is also open to applications from individuals, partnerships and limited companies, foreign nationals, expats, offshore companies and trusts.

Leave a comment