Roma Finance provides first £2.4m commercial mortgage

Roma Finance has completed its first commercial mortgage, a £2.4m facility to Alistructures Limited for a commercial site in Market Harborough in 25 working days.

The milestone transaction comes the month after Roma launched its commercial mortgage offering and follows its new forward-flow funding agreement with JP Morgan in June.

The 15-year facility, which has a five-year fixed rate of 8.52%, was provided at 63% gross LTV against a market value of £4.2m.

The transaction refinances an existing Roma development facility and provides Alistructures with longer-term funding for the completed commercial asset.

The Hermitage Works Business Park, located just outside Market Harborough on Desborough Road comprises several offices and the new commercial building.

Alistructures Limited originally approached Roma in 2024 for development finance to transform the site from a semi-derelict former farmyard, into its current configuration.

The new commercial mortgage enables the company to move from development finance onto a longer-term funding structure now that the site has been redeveloped and is generating rental income.

Michael Allison, commercial director at Roma Finance, commented: “It's a particularly significant transaction for us because it's our first commercial mortgage completion, coming so soon after we launched the product.

“We've been working hard behind the scenes to build the capability and funding infrastructure to support longer-term commercial lending, so seeing that come through into a completed transaction is fantastic for the team.

“We originally provided the development finance for this site, and we've now been able to support the customer again with longer-term funding as the asset has reached the next stage. 

“Being able to work in collaboration with the broker, with the same customer across different stages of their property journey is exactly the kind of longer-term relationships we want to build at Roma.”

Seymour Guinness, director at Alistructures Limited, said: “Roma understood the property and our plans from the outset, having supported us with the development finance.

“Being able to move onto longer-term funding with the same lender has made the process much more straightforward and gives us certainty over the next stage of the investment.

“The development has transformed the site and it's now generating a strong rental income, so the commercial mortgage provides the right funding structure for where the property is today. Having Roma involved through both stages has been a real benefit.”