£1.52m bridge completed by Albatross over three Somerset commercial properties

"Three titles, three different sets of issues, and a borrower who needed to move before all of them were tidy."
- Nils Raber - Albatross Lending Group

Albatross Lending Group has completed a gross bridging facility of £1.52m secured over three commercial properties in Somerset.

The loan represents 61% LTV against a combined market valuation of £2,475,000, written over a 12-month term with interest serviced.

The security comprises a multi-let industrial estate, a public house with residential accommodation above, and a mixed-use high-street. The borrower, a commercial property company, is preparing the portfolio for a term refinance and needed a facility that could be put in place while several outstanding title and compliance matters were brought into order.

The legal work identified issues across all three titles, including historic third-party restrictions, defects in the registered title relating to access and service media, and outstanding compliance documentation. Albatross resolved a number of these ahead of completion and conditioned the remainder as conditions subsequent, with agreed timeframes running from drawdown.

Albatross will work with the borrower over the 12-month term to clear the outstanding conditions, with the facility repaying on refinance of the portfolio.

"Three titles, three different sets of issues, and a borrower who needed to move before all of them were tidy," Nils Raber, associate director, Albatross Lending Group, said. "What the broker wanted was a lender who would actually work through the detail rather than reprice at the last minute, and that's the part we're good at."

Craig Reiselson, senior underwriter, Albatross Lending Group, added: "This deal needed pragmatism and commercial thinking more than anything else. Three commercial units with layered issues, old overage agreements, building regs, access and EPC problems, that needed working through rather than walking away from.

"It's exactly the kind of case our years of experience in bridging has prepared us for. We understand property, we understand people, and we understand lending, and that's what let us find a structure that worked for everyone, including agreeing no PG for one of the guarantors.

"It's a good example of what Albatross can do on complex commercial bridging when you take a genuinely commercial view of the risk."

Lewis Casserley, co-founder & principal, Albatross Lending Group, commented: "Cases like this sit comfortably within the commercial book now - three assets, imperfect legal title, a guarantee structure built to fit. It's a side of the business fewer brokers see."