Aspen has completed a £950,000 commercial bridge-to-let facility in 10 days to support the auction purchase of a seven-storey office building in central Birmingham.
The property is located on Temple Row, overlooking St Philip’s Square in the city’s central business district. The applicant’s business already occupied the 6,000 sq ft mid-terrace period building when it learned that the site would be sold at auction at a competitive price.
To meet the tight timeframe, Aspen structured a specialist facility using its no valuation and bridge-to-let products. The borrower plans to adopt an OpCo-PropCo structure after completion, with one of its companies becoming the sole tenant of the building.
The commercial bridge was agreed at 0.89% per month over a nine-month term. This will transition into a buy-to-let period at 6.49% per annum for two years. The exit strategy is a refinance onto a commercial buy-to-let product.
Aspen processed the case under its one-person-per-case customer service model, with senior underwriter Laura Randall handling the application from start to finish.
“Auction purchases demand speed and certainty,” said Jack Coombs, chief operating officer at S&U PLC, Aspen’s parent company. “Our ability to complete within 10 days, while structuring a solution that supports the borrower’s longer-term refinance strategy, highlights the flexibility and responsiveness that underpins Aspen’s product propositions and commitment to best-in-industry service levels.”
Earlier this year, Aspen widened the scope of its bridge-to-let product by reducing rates and extending the combined term to up to five years.
Applicants can now choose a bridge or development loan for up to 24 months, followed by a buy-to-let period of up to three years. The lender says this structure is designed to provide continuity between short-term finance and longer-term investment funding.
