Bridging lender Bath & West Finance has a strong appetite for development deals, with a third of its cases currently in motion revolving around development finance.
When commenting on a recent deal, Ian Parsons, Bath & West Finance Director said: “One involving the early stages of development really required understanding the project and what the client was doing to make sure that the project was a success overall, even through to the exit routes.”
He added: “The last few weeks, we have had unusual opportunities and and had to work closely with the broker and client to find solutions to deal with the challenges with each project."
“We have had about £5 million worth of deals across our desks in the last couple of weeks. However, it’s more important to get a good loan book rather than simply growing the book.”
Ian also mentioned that understanding the cases involved creating a closer relationship with brokers, which is a general aim for Bath & West as it looks to interact directly with the intermediary market.
The lender is also prepared to look at complex adverse deals and assess deals on a case by case basis.
A few weeks after entering the market in June, Bath & West’s first loan arose without having to contact any brokers for the deal. The company’s primary deals assisted several property portfolio reorganisations from the Home Counties to the South Coast, as well as investments in the leisure industry.
Despite its developing status, the lender has gathered speed in its underwriting, with the fastest deal to date being inside 10 days.
Bath & West Finance took on HSBC manager, Neil Vickers, to lead its underwriting team earlier on this year, working with Martyn Smith and Ian Parsons.
Ian Parsons said: “Most people get hung up on headline rates, what you need to consider is the overall cost to the client, it may seem a cheaper rate but what about the fees involved? Sometimes they've got fees up in the sky but people look at the cheaper rates.”
Bath & West’s benchmarks for lending starts from £50,000 and is capped at £500,000, however a £2 million deal has been approved. The lender provides 70 per cent loan to value for a first charge on a development case, with a starting rate of 1.25 per cent.
Bath & West launched in June this year, while in the process of setting up its IT systems. While being funded by a number of prime private funding lines, including Fincorp, Bath & West uses a panel of eight brokers to channel its products.
Company Director, Martyn Smith has been in the bridging industry since 1984, and launched bridging lender Bristol and West Investments Ltd. More commonly known as bridgingloans.com, in 2000 the company became the first of its kind to float on the stock exchange. It was sold in 2005.
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