CASE STUDY: £1.89 MILLION MIX-USE PROPERTY PORTFOLIO REFINANCE

978 Finance Case Study.

Mr. Swinton and his family have been in real estate for three generations. They have worked with a broker in the past and have a strong professional team, a healthy portfolio and good track record. 

Over the years, they have acquired a mix of residential and commercial property. They have trading businesses as well as property companies and their portfolio and debt structure has evolved gradually over time. 

Mr. Swinton has known Simon Das, 978’s Managing Director, for a number of years having worked together on a several projects. It was over a coffee that Mr. Swinton relayed to Simon his frustrations with his current portfolio’s finance, which seemed very restrictive, and involved multiple lenders and a myriad of charges and debentures. Nothing was straight forward, with property owned by one of his trading companies being a mix of residential and commercial properties, varied gearing, and several low value apartments which would not be considered flavour of the month for any lender. 

As his portfolio had evolved, Mr. Swinton had used his trusted accountant, conveyancer, and broker, carefully looking at every opportunity on a case-by-case basis. Indeed, we have seen this approach at 978 Finance time and time again and although seemingly a natural process, nobody in Mr Swinton’s team had taken a step back and looked at the whole picture. 

Clearly, the portfolio had been managed reactively, always looking to remedy the immediate headache rather than assessing the full picture. Thankfully, Simon and his team of expert brokers at 978 Finance had cultivated relationships with the most commercially minded of lenders and were used to finding funding solutions in cases of high complexity. Simon had built his reputation by working with lenders that made common sense decisions and would take a view on individual concerns. Simon and his 978 team would work with the borrower to build a full picture for the lender and offer those products and solutions that would support growth, often saving money and reducing stress. 

Having been asked to have a look at the broader picture for Mr Swinton, 978 Finance took time to really get to know the portfolio. First, 978 started by identifying the biggest potential issues, such as low value leasehold apartments and commercial units with poor covenants. Further, Simon and his team sought to comprehend all the benefits and opportunities presented by this diverse time served portfolio and Mr Swinton, its owner. Through detailed analysis and an open book approach, 978 gained a fantastic insight into the whole history of the business and the assets. Only then could 978 become fully committed to helping the business owner go in the direction he had originally wished to pursue, which was looking at planning gain opportunities where he had achieved some success previously.

Armed with a wealth of information, 978 Finance went to market to look at a substantial refinance across 40 individual units, comprising of residential and semi-commercial properties - with an interesting mix of retail and takeaway properties, and a few garages. 978 provided its lenders with an in-depth insight into Mr Swinton, his history and the direction he and his family were looking to take and successfully agreed a substantial portfolio remortgage. 

Similarly, the lender worked with Mr Swinton while he secured stronger leases on his commercial properties. Both 978 Finance and the lender supported the borrower throughout the underwriting process to ensure their complete comfort while ultimately arriving at a positive lending decision. The lender is taking a first charge over 32 individual units held in a property company and a trading company, with several properties remaining unencumbered. The unencumbered properties will assist with future growth, allowing for quick capital raising by utilising bridging finance as and when a planning gain deal presents itself. Mr Swinton was thrilled with the support and care Simon and his 978-team provided him, and of course, securing a great refinance deal on his mixed-use portfolio.

The figures on Mr Swinton’s mixed-use portfolio refinance:

Total Loan £1.89m

65% LTV

Term 15 Years

4.7% Over Base