Deal of the Week

Approached by a letting agent to refinance a mixed-use property in Shepherd’s Bush, London at 55% LTV would on the face of it seem straightforward, however…

The two retail units were a trading restaurant and a Kebab takeaway with associated noise and smell affecting the marketability of the 7 flats
The council were under the impression the upstairs comprised 2 maisonettes, not 7 flats so the permissions to let had to be considered.
The client had a business loan that used this property and multiple other properties for security and this bank couldn’t tell the client how much money they needed to release this security.
The client was extremely difficult to speak with, spending a lot of time abroad or incommunicado!
Liaising with the two lenders that held charges on the asset, the bank, the client’s solicitor and the surveyors we finally persuaded the bank to fund not just the debt on the property but to but raise sufficient funds for the client to buy the freehold of another business he was “running”.

A loan of £1.1m earned a total income of over £20k. The associate who introduced this, therefore, saw his first deal pay out over £10,000.