Arbuthnot Specialist Finance sees record level of enquiries since launch

February saw the bulk of the credit applications in terms of the loan value, following increased residential investment and development demand, due to more people working remotely.

ASFL was launched in May 2019 to provide short-term real estate finance solutions for purchase, refinance and development projects for property professionals and entrepreneurs across the UK. It was set up to reflect greater selectiveness from high street lenders that has led property professionals to turn to specialist lenders.

ASFL’s core business is residential finance, where it offers loans from £30,000 with a loan to value (LTV) of up to 75 per cent including interest. Interest rates per month start from 0.6 per cent.

It also offers heavy refurbishment and conversion, with loans from £100,000 up to 70 per cent LTV and a monthly interest rate from 0.7 per cent.

The business lends on light refurbishment with loans from £30,000 up to 75 per cent LTV and a monthly interest rate from 0.65 per cent. It also loans on development with an LTV of up to 70 per cent and maximum gross development value (GDV) of up to 70 per cent, and monthly rates from 0.85 per cent.

Its maximum loan is £3m, but ASFL can work with the bank’s real estate team to accommodate larger transactions.

Last year, the bank’s commercial arm, Arbuthnot Latham and Co, stated its intention to move away from commercial real estate and focus on buy-to-let lending due to the decline of people working in offices at the time and the increased interest in staycations leading to a holiday let boom.

Matthew Anderson (pictured), head of sales at Arbuthnot, said: “Following restructuring of leadership at ASFL, it is great to see the progress of our team reflected in our Q1 performance.

“Our bread and butter has been residential, where we are seeing people look for extra space and homes in the countryside. As Arbuthnot Latham’s short-term property subsidiary we look to fully service the market, not just in our area of financing expertise, but to leverage the bank’s other financing solutions and provide a more holistic approach to lending.”