500 Unit apartment development – GDV 150m+

• The Opportunity – The client owned a piece of land on the outskirts of Manchester with planning for a 500 unit residential scheme and successfully achieved significant off-plan sales.

• The Challenges – As a phased development, the existing land bridge had to be part redeemed and part remain, while the size meant that a single funder reached their LTC limit, so a mezzanine strip was also needed.  The use of deposits from pre-sales in the construction meant several lenders were unable to consider the scheme.

• Resolution – by splitting the title and creating a new holding structure, the redemption and new loan requirements were made simpler for lender security to be achieved.  PCP worked with a specialist large cap lender to create the right structure and financial flows to work around the pre-sales problem.

BTL portfolio refinance to release equity – c.£23m

• The Opportunity – The client had assembled a portfolio of over 250 houses and apartments throughout cities in the UK using a wide range of BTL mortgage providers, and wanted to use this asset base to release funding for other real estate opportunities

• The Challenges – The disaggregated nature of the portfolio meant the valuation and legal process would be very complex, combined with the fact the incumbent mortgages all had different rates, LTVs, covenants and term dates meant that any regearing would have to be selective and involve negotiating with numerous counterparties

• Resolution – PCP deployed a modelling process allowed the client to identify the best assets to use to solve the problem, with the loan provided by a challenger bank who were persuaded to use a sampling of the portfolio for valuations and legals to speed up the due diligence and close the deal in time

New credit lines for real estate lender – c.£65m

• The Opportunity – a small team had built a lending platform using friends and family capital and a simple bank facility, but had ambitions to grow to a book of £100m

• The Challenges – the size of the book fell between the very small and very large funding packages which are typically easier to resolve, while the founder team had reached the limit of their co-investment capital required to satisfy the bank facility

• Resolution – PCP originated a junior capital provider to meet the requirements of first loss, which opened up new senior tranche funders.  PCP helped the client fine tune the model presented to funders, then negotiate and document both the senior and junior facilities for the client’s best interests

FITZROVIA MEWS HOUSE BRIDGE TO RELEASE EQUITY – c.1.6m

• The Opportunity – The client had virtually completed a high-end mews house and wanted to release some equity from the property in order to fund new projects.

• The Challenges – The post code of the house was, at the time, considered by the lending market to be high risk as sales were at close to an all time low in the area and prices were falling.

• Resolution - PBL asked the lender to personally view the property in order to understand the quality of the build and provided evidence to prove the experience of the client in completing high end quality schemes. PBL ensured that all the details surrounding the quality of fit out and materials utilised by the client were provided to the lender.

senior and mezzanine facilities for the development of 2 high-end luxury houses - £1.4m

• The Opportunity – The client had secured a site with privacy and excellent views in a village location. PBL were instructed to access a facility that would ensure that the client could deliver a luxury product with relatively high gearing.

• The Challenges – The market for luxury houses in the area was limited but as the location was unique PBL approached funders with a full suite of information to ensure any lending risk was limited.

• Resolution - Exit by sale or refinance onto a BTL mortgage was proven to the lenders in order to satisfy their appetite for risk. The client ensured costs were managed at all times in order to satisfy the lenders IMS as the build progressed. A mixture of senior debt and mezzanine finance was sourced by PBL in order to provide the leverage required by the client.

COMMERCIAL OFFICE REFINANCE TO REPLACE EXISTING LENDER AND RELEASE EQUITY - £3.75m

• The Opportunity – The client required a refinance away from a high street bank due to being hamstrung by the banks need for debentures across all their businesses and in order to release equity to replace their own funds spent on a high-end refurbishment of the office.

• The Challenges – To source a competitive rate from a lender who would be happy to rely on a first charge and directors PG’s and not require debentures across the other companies within the group. The first lender approached to refinance the building had instructed a valuer who had delivered a report that was 35% under the expected market value as informally provided by a nationally known industry leader in the real estate market who valued the asset as a favour to PBL.

• Resolution - PBL sourced a new lender and liaised with a panel of valuers provided by the lender before agreeing on a particular valuer who agreed to be accompanied by PBL and the clients on the site visit to ensure all aspects of the refurbishment were covered during the visit. This led to the valuers report virtually matching market expectations and suitable for the lender and client.

REFINANCE SENIOR FACILITY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF 17 HOUSES TOGETHER WITH A DEVELOPMENT EXIT FACILITY FOR 2 COMPLETED HOUSES - £2.7m

The Opportunity – The client needed to refinance away from an existing facility on a phased site in order to build a further 17 houses together with a development exit facility on 2 completed houses.
The Challenges – PBL had to present the existing 5 phases of the scheme including affordable and private sale properties together with completed houses in a clear and acceptable manner to sophisticated lenders due to the complications of the current situation.

Resolution – PBL sourced an extremely credible and competitive lender who understood the clients requirements clearly and provided the facility needed to ensure a positive outcome.