Recognise Bank has completed a £644,000 commercial bridging loan for a green amenity piece of land in East Anglia.
The facility will allow a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to repay an existing bridging finance facility on the land, where planning is being sought for a development of at least 44 affordable houses.
The borrower was in the final stages of a planning application, which had taken longer than expected, and although a decision was expected imminently, the existing lender was unwilling to renew or extend the existing facility.
The previous planning approval, which was under a different ownership, had lapsed.
Despite several complexities, including flood risk considerations and an active planning permission application, Recognise Bank was able to deliver a swift and tailored funding solution.
The client is a building contractor with many years of experience in the construction industry.
Having made the decision to sell the site in its entirety and not build out the development, the new finance was able to buy the developer time to enable the completion of the planning process and the onward sale.
Introduced by Imran Raja, head of origination and relationships at First Wealth Management Ltd, the loan was completed at 60% loan-to-value (LTV) on a 9-month term.
Heather Mitchell, lending manager at Recognise Bank, said: “This case was introduced by a new broker to the Bank and was a deal where the clients needed a lender who could respond quickly and who could grasp and understand the risks attached.
“Working closely with the broker and the borrower allowed us to fund quickly and efficiently.”
Imran Raja, head of origination and relationships at First Wealth Management Ltd, added: “I’ve been extremely impressed by the team at Recognise Bank and their ability to make a swift commercial decision, backed by prompt funding and I will definitely be using them again on our more complex bridging finance enquiries.”
