"We’re proud to have delivered two tailored facilities that addressed very different requirements across two prestigious sites"
- Jack Coombs - Aspen
Aspen Bridging has completed a £6.3 million funding package in just five days, supporting a developer with two separate residential projects in Bath and Cheltenham.
The dual facility covered 23 units across a combined 17,000 square feet. Each site required a different lending approach, leading Aspen to structure both a refurbishment bridge and a serviced buy-to-let loan.
In Bath, the lender provided a £3.9 million facility, with £2.5 million released on day one and the remainder allocated to cover 100% of works. The scheme involves converting a high-end church building into seven one- and two-bedroom apartments, alongside a three-bedroom penthouse. Period features, including the pulpit, organ, stained glass window, and a reinstated staircase, will be retained.
Located in the city centre, the development also benefits from the acquisition of a nearby car park to secure spaces for every unit. The refurbishment bridge was arranged on Aspen’s flat rate of 0.83% over a 10-month term, with the exit strategy based on sales. Three apartments have already been agreed off-plan.
In Cheltenham (pictured), the developer had already transformed an office building into 15 apartments. Aspen’s £2.4 million residential serviced buy-to-let facility was structured to allow flexibility: units can either be sold during the 12-month term or retained under a buy-to-let product. The deal was completed at 70% loan-to-value with a one-year term at a 6.99% pay rate and 1.8% deferred interest.
The buy-to-let facility is available only to borrowers who have previously used an Aspen bridging product, in this case for the refurbishment of the original site.
Both transactions were overseen by credit manager Sinead McMurray, in line with Aspen’s one-person-per-case service model.
Jack Coombs, managing director at Aspen Bridging, noted, “We’re proud to have delivered two tailored facilities that addressed very different requirements across two prestigious sites. By structuring a refurbishment bridge alongside our serviced Buy to Let offering, we provided the developer with the speed and certainty needed to keep both projects moving forward whilst still enabling the borrower the flexibility to pursue their best exit strategy.”
