Atom bank has announced that it has completed a £1.1 million commercial loan secured against a learning disabilities unit, helping the borrower avoid a sizeable penalty on an expiring bridging loan by delivering the funds within just five weeks.
The borrower had purchased the property, which they then developed into a six-bed learning disabilities unit in Hampshire, a year beforehand. The unit was let out to a corporate tenant on a 15-year lease. The property had initially been purchased using a bridging loan, and the borrower faced a tight deadline to avoid incurring a substantial fee when the loan expired.
Matt Martin, co-founder of Align Property Finance and the broker on the case, found some lenders struggled to commit to a valuation of the property. This risked delay and additional cost to the borrower if the deadline was missed. Atom bank, however, was able to act quickly, moving from valuation to drawdown within just five weeks and enabling the borrower to beat the deadline.
The broker praised Atom for running the legals in parallel to the valuation, ensuring the funds would be available in time. Atom's flexible policy, which allowed it to lend up to 75% LTV, was also pinpointed as crucial to the successful resolution of the case, as it meant there was headroom should the valuation not meet expectations.
"This case highlights what makes Atom special," said Neil Findlay, senior commercial BDM at Atom bank. "Care homes are a complicated asset, which can put some lenders off, but we've built specialist knowledge of the sector, which means we are well placed to support such cases, whether they are commercial investors or first-time care home operators.
"What's more, we aren't put off by tight deadlines: our system and processes are built to provide borrowers and brokers with the answers they need, as quickly as possible. In this case, we ran the legals at the same time as the valuation, to ensure we could help the borrower meet their deadline."
"This case went right to the wire, and it was only Atom's pragmatism and relationship management that meant we beat the deadline," said Matt Martin, co-founder of Align Property Finance.
"Neil was in regular contact, always available to help when necessary, while Emma Vardy and the rest of the team were amazing. Every lender says they are relationship lenders and flexible, but it's only when you get down to the deal that you can see whether that's really the case, and Atom absolutely delivered, even moving some of the requirements to CPs just to ensure we got this done. The client was thrilled; Atom will be the first port of call for future deals like this."
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