lendinvest

LendInvest completes £12.2m worth of deals




LendInvest has completed three pre-planning loans totalling £12.2m.

The first deal consisted of a £3.7m loan agreed at 62% LTV, secured against a former office building in Harrow, London.

The client required the facility to raise capital on the unencumbered asset to recoup costs and to acquire two further sites next to the property, ahead of securing a commercial lease for office space and potential residential planning. 

Warren Perks, senior underwriter at LendInvest, who worked on this deal, said: "As part of my due diligence, I did a site visit to see the security and the regeneration developments which are taking place adjacent to it. 

“This gave me further comfort that we were lending on a quality site in a good location with strong planning potential."

The second deal saw LendInvest provide a £6.8m loan at 52% LTV to repeat clients for the purchase of five detached houses in Purley, London.

At the time, the borrowers were working toward obtaining planning permission to convert the properties into three apartment blocks totalling 155 residential units.

The clients have subsequently been granted planning and are in the final stages of negotiating a sale with a London housing association.

The third deal consisted of a £1.7m bridging facility agreed at 60% LTV, secured against a former nursery in west Sussex with resolution to grant for the development of 39 houses.

The funds released by the lender helped cover the client’s head office running expenses, planning costs in relation to an adjoining site for a further 66 homes, and for the purchase and planning costs of another two sites in Bath and Surbiton, west London.

Michael Minnie, BDM at LendInvest, who worked on this deal, commented: "Timing was all important on this deal as the client had two new site acquisitions to complete, requiring the funds from capital raise to use as deposits. 

“The borrower's intention was to release these funds once planning was achieved but as S106 negotiations with the local authority were being drawn out, they needed a bridging loan for a short period. 

“My broker and I, jointly with our professionals, had to contend with an complex off-shore borrowing structure and carry out significant due diligence on the planning position to date including arranging for Judicial Review Indemnity."

Michael added: "With pre-planning transactions, as a lender there is no playbook. 

“Having a deep knowledge of what solutions we can offer, coupled with the right professionals assigned to the case is key to the success of these completions."

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