Mercantile Trust has announced the completion of its first bridging case in Northern Ireland.

The case was introduced to Mercantile Trust by second charge mortgage packager and broker, the Loans Engine. Its client required an unregulated bridging loan on a buy-to-let investment property which was worth £200,000 and had a current mortgage balance of £92,000. The borrower wanted to raise £46,500 to gift to their parents to help them finish a property development.

As the property was located in Northern Ireland and the required loan size was below £50,000, the number of lenders available was extremely limited. In addition, the fact that the client was looking to raise the finance by way of a second charge and to use funds to gift to parents meant many other lender options were unavailable.

However, Mercantile Trust, which prides itself on ‘serving the underserved’, was able to help the borrower as their requirements fitted its lending criteria, which extended to Northern Ireland in September of this year. It offered a second charge bridging loan for a 12-month term, with the interest rolled up to negate the need for monthly repayments. The rate was 1.1% per month, with no early repayment charges (ERCs) applicable. The client was able to obtain a gross loan to value (LTV) of 70% even though it was a second charge loan.

The bridging loan means the client’s parents will be able to finish the development, and once complete they will either sell this security or the parents’ development site, which ever happens sooner.

Steve Nobbs, head of unregulated mortgage broking at the Loans Engine, said: “The original introducer was unable to find any solutions for their client, until they approached the Loans Engine. From our perspective, Mercantile Trust was slick, quick to react and kept us fully in the loop, which has always been our experience with them.

“After how smoothly and successfully this case went, the introducer has now secured the client for future investment purchases and refurbishment projects. He was particularly impressed with the process from both the Loans Engine and Mercantile Trust.

“Mercantile succeeded in having a happy broker, happy introducer and happy client.”

Maeve Ward, director of commercial operations at Mercantile Trust, added: “Our expansion into Northern Ireland after the summer was very important to us as we wanted to be able to offer provide brokers in the area with choice and opportunity to write more business and better service the short-term needs of their clients.

“Having worked with the Loans Engine before, we knew they would provide all of the information required in a timely fashion in order for us to assess the case. Whilst it wouldn’t fit the criteria of many a bridging lender, Mercantile Trust is dedicated to offering flexible solutions, such as lower loan amounts and second charge options, and so could offer the borrower the amount they wanted.

“We have other Northern Ireland applications in the pipeline and look forward to working with other brokers operating in the region.”