Shawbrook and West Rock Capital combine on £11.5m permitted development bridge

In a deal which took six weeks to complete, the lender’s commercial mortgages team were approached by broker partner West Rock Capital, and a client who specialises in permitted developments. The client was looking for a 24-month bridging loan to purchase a commercial premise on Milton Keynes train station. 

Worth £16m, the client required a £11.5m facility for the acquisition with the aim to sell in 18 to 24 months and the potential of redeveloping into residential units.  

There were some barriers with navigating the bridge, including the risk of the premises being located on a train station.

However, the team proceeded with the application once the valuer said they did not see a problem with the purchase or potential planning issues regarding the conversion into residential units.    

Using Shawbrook’s STL3 product, providing the ability to service the interest, the short-term team were able to fund this purchase at 70 per cent loan to value across a 24-month term, allowing extra time for refurbishment or planning delays.  

Shrena Patel (pictured), business development manager at Shawbrook, said that while there were “hurdles and moving parts” that needed to be overcome, the team worked together to find a solution for the client so the purchase could go ahead as planned. 

Westley Richards, director at West Rock Capital, added: “I am delighted to have successfully enabled our client to secure this exciting opportunity.”