Aspen delivers £1.9m refurbishment facility for Grade I-listed conversion

Aspen has supported an experienced developer with a £1.9m refurbishment bridging loan to convert a Grade I-listed office building in Bath city centre into five residential apartments.

An initial advance of £800,000, representing 80% LTV, will allow the refinance of an existing £550,000 purchase facility as well as providing the borrower with £250,000 to commence the substantial works.

The remaining £1.1m is available through staged development drawdowns, with the completed scheme having a GDV of around £2.7m.

Having been purchased in an off-market transaction in 2025, the building is currently in poor condition. It will be converted into five two-bedroom apartments benefitting from dual aspects.

The case was completed in six weeks with Aspen’s in-house development monitoring team involved from the outset.

When the next drawdown is requested, a site visit will take place within 48 hours with funds released within 72 hours.

The loan was finalised on a flat rate of 0.79% per month over 18 months.

The developer intends to retain the completed apartments as income-producing assets, adding them to their existing investment portfolio, and will exit via refinance.

The application was taken from start to finish by senior underwriter Laura Randall.

Laura said: “The project is being undertaken by a highly experienced developer who has completed 25 projects realising GDVs of over £20m during the last 12 months.

“As such they completely understand the benefits of our unique in-house development monitoring team which brings more speed, reduced costs and much-needed continuity into every project.”