Clever Lending has packaged a £180,000 regulated bridging facility for a broker’s clients who wanted to develop residential outbuildings they owned into holiday lets.

The residential property was unencumbered and valued at £2 million; however, the clients were looking to split the title after the development was completed, separate out the three-bed detached bungalow also on the land and remortgage it as the exit strategy.

Matthew Dilks (pictured), commercial and bridging specialist at Clever Lending, placed the case with West One Loans as he recognised it was the only regulated lender that would consider the commercial and residential mixed-use security.

Clever Lending worked quickly and closely with West One as the clients needed a quick completion on the bridging loan. Various obstacles had to be tackled in order to meet the tight deadline.

There were some delays with the valuation report as the surveyor discovered that there was an equestrian facility on site. In addition, the fact that strawberries were growing on the site meant that the valuation needed to be based on a specific type of land. However, as a gesture of goodwill the lender kept the valuation fee the same to prevent the clients from incurring any extra costs.

In addition, during the client application process the Bank of England increased the base rate which in turn saw the lender’s rate rise from 0.95% to 1%. As a consequence, West One increased the gross loan amount to ensure that the clients would receive the initial net loan amount they required.

Having overcome all the issues, the case was completed within two months of submission on 21st June. The regulated bridging loan was for 12 months at a loan to value (LTV) of 15%.

Dilks said: “This case highlights the many benefits of dealing with a master broker. Following the clients’ specific requirements, we used our considerable market expertise to place the case with the only lender willing to accept mixed-use security with a regulated bridging loan.

“We were also able to work closely with the lender and other third parties to deal with the particular issues that arose during the application process.

“Clever Lending is known as a firm that gets difficult cases successfully completed and this was no exception.”

Jez Quinn, head of sales (North) at West One Loans, added: “It’s always a pleasure to work with the team at Clever Lending and I’m delighted we could support their client with this transaction. I look forward to working with the team on their next deal.”