Shawbrook completes £3m semi-commercial loan

The challenger bank provided a large semi-commercial loan of £3m at 69% LTV over 30 years for the eight properties in Nottingham.

The portfolio was made up of six HMOs and two semi-commercial properties.

After being introduced to the deal by Empire Corporate Finance Ltd, it was established that the borrower had some outstanding CCJs that Shawbrook’s lending manager would have to investigate.

The lending manager was able to look at the case pragmatically and reach a good outcome for the borrower after it was discovered that these outstanding CCJs related to unpaid bills belonging to the previous tenants who were international students who had left the country.

The client had complied with all the legal requests and was waiting to be cleared administratively, which meant Shawbrook was confident enough to provide a full mortgage offer.

Another issue that arose was that the client’s HMO licence had expired.

The client had re-applied for the licence immediately, but due to a council backlog of two years, it had been delayed.

Just before completion, it was discovered that the redemption statement highlighted a shortfall in funding.

After consultation with Shawbrook’s credit committee, the lending manager authorised an increased total loan amount to ensure that the shortfall was covered.

Lee Albino, business development manager for the north central region at Shawbrook, said this case showed the benefits of the challenger bank’s service proposition.

“We were comfortable in lending at full market value, which provided the client with the maximum loan value possible, as well as applying good sense with regards to the potential issues around the CCJs and HMO licence.

“Whereas this may have set alarm bells ringing at other lenders, that’s not how we work.

“There’s no tick-box approach – we look at the individual circumstances of the client and their portfolio – which, when combined with the guidance of an expert broker like Empire Corporate Finance Ltd, enables us to achieve a positive outcome for the borrower.”

Jo Sutton of Empire Corporate Finance Ltd said the client was very satisfied with the way Shawbrook dealt with the case, and was already looking at taking out additional loans with the challenger bank.

“This really wasn’t a straightforward case considering the mixed nature of the portfolio and the ongoing difficulty with renewing the HMO licence, not to mention the tight deadline my client had to refinance away from their existing bank.

“Despite this, the lending team and credit relationship manager at Shawbrook were pivotal in securing such a great end result.”