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VKJ Finance

by Milen Johar 20 Nov, 2023
2nd Charge Flexible Finance / Overdraft facility for fast Auction Purchases & Commercial Interests! Pleased to have arranged a 2nd charge Flexible Overdraft Facility for a client seeking to take advantage of upcoming below market value opportunities at property auctions, but also have a "just in case" emergency facility to assist various businesses in their portfolio. The secured facility against the clients main residence, which can be drawn, repaid & re-drawn multiple times over 2 yrs, is a great product with a low non utilisation rate. The case was complex for unusual reasons with issues surrounding the surveyors opinion of the property's Insurance Reinstatement cost. In a nutshell, the surveyor had way over-estimated that a 3 floor 5,500 sq ft property required an Insurance Reinstatement cost of £1.3m, 78% above BCIS benchmarks! We all know inflation has been rampant the last 12+ months & has affected the increasing cost of materials / labour, but 78% was beyond belief! So much so, the existing insurer refused to amend their max £1m cover because £1.3m was deemed "over-insuring" according to their data models. Seeking other insurers was also problematic as the property had 7 bathrooms taking it outside criteria. With time of the essence & the clock ticking, Phodis Maratheftis , Mihaela Janko & the team at Alternative Bridging Corporation dug deep to help quickly resolve the matter & complete just in time for most of the latest monthly auctions which the borrower wanted to bid on. Considering the current economic backdrop, it was great to get this over the line. Special thanks also to Alicia Pattihis at Axiom DWFM solicitors for her expert assistance & advice, offering pragmatic solutions to complex case matters / issues throughout the clients journey. I cannot recommend all those involved in this transaction highly enough! As always, if I can assist any of you in financing your projects or with any property finance needs, then please feel free to get in touch.
by Milen Johar 20 Nov, 2023
2nd charge facility including a regulated bridge split across multiple borrowers & properties with licensing requirements. Done! Massively relieved to help a developer client refinance 4 of their 2nd charge facilities last week. The case was complex as the facility was secured across 4 properties, 3 borrowers and their current 2nd charge lender made life difficult by slapping on a huge 13% fee at the last minute for going slightly past the end of term despite knowing the case was in legals and the refi was taking place! Add to that 1 of the properties needed to renew its selective licence and another needed a HMO licence as the landlord was unaware his tenant was in fact doing rent 2 rent! Have to say, Phodis Maratheftis , Thandeka Faith Ndebele and the team at Alternative Bridging Corporation worked as fast they could to complete as quickly as possible to overcome all these hurdles, whilst lowering the interest rate at the same time! Massive 👏🏽 indeed! As always, if I can assist any folks in my network and beyond to provide funding solutions, I'm always happy to help.
by Milen Johar 20 Nov, 2023
Very pleased to help a developer re-bridge a newly developed HMO recently after going beyond the maturity date with their current lender, and more than halving their rate in the process. The reason why they went past term is unfortunately too common where contractors sometimes do such a poor job it would fail building control and requires another contractor to start all over again from scratch! So equity release of the extra costs they incurred was also required. Complicating the case was the LTD Co entity was split across 3 guarantors and the entity owned other mortgaged properties - requiring confirmation whether non crystallisation letters were required. Add to that, the HMO licence was applied for, but wasn’t in hand. Special thanks to Shoaib Bux , Molly Markey , Chloe Skae and the Arbuthnot Latham team who worked as fast they could (including after hours) to complete this as quickly as possible. As always, if I can assist any folks in my network and beyond to provide funding solutions, I'm always happy to help folks get the best deal on the market for their circumstances at the time.
by Milen Johar 20 Nov, 2023
Very pleased to help a few of the following clients complete their moves to cheaper finance in the last 2 weeks: ~£450k BTL refinance for a developer who wished to move off a Finish & Exit Loan and retain 3 of their newly developed units after selling others in their development. BTL exit is becoming a larger trend now with developers no longer focussing purely on sales exits. ~£950k MUF / HMO refinance for a landlord on expensive Commercial Finance with a 17 bedroom multi unit freehold, arranged as 4 dwellings, including HMO’s. Complicating the HMO case was that my client had run this property for many years as student let’s prior to HMO licensing being invented but Article 4 coming into the area meant he now had to prove historical use despite planning approving the use years ago. Solicitors can easily break a deal and thanks must go to Harriet Thornton / Jessica Wager at LCF Law , together with Rob Eggleston at Paragon Banking Group PLC who all massively thought outside the box to get these done. Feel free to get in touch if you are looking for funding solutions, always happy to help.
by Milen Johar 20 Nov, 2023
Being busy the past 2 weeks is an understatement for all of us in the finance industry with the lending landscape changing daily. Lenders reducing LTV’s, valuations paused, GDV uncertainty, build costs increasing, supply chains suspended, builders can’t maintain social distancing so are on hold etc. Pleased to have helped a developer move off a Finish & Exit Loan I’d arranged, by moving into a portfolio BTL product, allowing him to keep 4 new build flats after selling others in the development. Great to see Build-to-Rent becoming a focus for developers & lenders responding by flexibly allowing inter-company transactions, director loan receivables etc to fund the equity deposit for the BTL. Huge thanks from my client & I to Rob Eggleston & his team at Paragon Banking Group PLC for aiding in this quirky transaction. They understand this landscape perfectly and thought outside the box to structure it right & get this £850k loan done. Units are now rented out & cash-flowing themselves. As always, feel free to get in touch if you are looking for funding solutions, always happy to help. Stay safe and well everyone!
by Milen Johar 20 Nov, 2023
Developer Build to Rent Pivot & Refi done! The past year has been challenging for Developers who've had to pivot themselves into Build to Rent & refinance at the end of their loan term either due to Covid scaring buyers away, or lenders reducing LTV's on New Builds affecting how much buyers can borrow, especially if they’ve used a developer exit loan already. Recently a client needed to repay a developer exit loan on a large development in Southampton of 101 flats + 3 commercial units. It was advised to pivot from a sale exit to a rent & refinance on the last 9 units which would be retained in a rental portfolio after selling the rest of their development. Staying within Exposure, Lending & Concentration limits can be tricky with 1 lender, but the main challenge was the Developer using an intercompany profit share owed from the DevCo to fund the purchase deposit for the HoldCo ie no cash changing hands. Not many lenders understand this but thanks to Amir Khan , Barry Richardson , Andrew Ferguson & the team at West One Loans who thought outside the box to get all units refinanced & release the maximum equity possible! Thanks also to Dinesh Raja & the Bowling & Co Solicitors team for their legal expertise! As always, feel free to reach out if I can assist with any financing needs. My network is open to all.
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