HTB completes £1.1m Marylebone bridging loan in six days

Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) has completed a £1.15m bridging capital raise for a new-to-bank overseas borrower, six days after issuing its formal offer.

The 12-month facility was secured against a property in Marylebone, London, providing the borrower with capital to support two planned auction purchases.

Given the borrower’s overseas residency and the structure of the transaction, HTB brought its legal, compliance and credit teams into the process early to identify and address potential issues ahead of formal offer.

Solicitors were instructed when the decision in principle was issued, allowing the legal work to progress alongside the case.

HTB also raised the overseas residency considerations early and held preliminary discussions with credit before the case was submitted for formal approval.

The formal offer was issued on 6th October, with the facility completing on 12th October.

The deal was introduced by Afsheen Gul, CEO at Berkeley Commercial Finance, and overseen by Cain Lam, BDM at HTB (pictured above).

Underwriters Raj Aggarwal and Jordan Rivers supported the transaction at HTB, with Merali Beedle acting on the legal work.

Cain commented: “The six-day completion was the result of the work that happened before the offer was issued.

“We instructed solicitors at DIP, raised the overseas residency points early and spoke to credit before formal submission. That meant we were working through the details as the case progressed, rather than leaving everything until the end.

“By the time the offer was issued, the transaction was already well advanced and we were able to maintain that momentum through to completion.”

Afsheen said: “I was really impressed with how smooth the process was. Responses came back quickly and there was always a clear sense that the case was moving forward.

“With a transaction like this, that communication makes a real difference. The team was responsive throughout and made the process far more straightforward than I had expected.”