Development Finance

In our experience people use brokers for two reasons;

1. The solution to their borrowing requirement is not easy to come by and cannot be sourced through their own channels.
2. It is not a good use of their time to try and source it themselves; i.e. their time is worth more to them than the fee they pay to their broker.

We would always advocate the use of a broker where the loan is greater than £ 1m and /or where the solution is not going to be a high street bank. For any portfolio and commercial mortgages, development finance or high value bridging loans, the best solution is unlikely to be a high street bank. A good broker should always know more than the average client, so use that knowledge to your advantage.

Unlike other Brokers we don’t think of ourselves as salespeople. We like to think of ourselves as someone you would seek counsel from and has your best interests at heart. We will never put you into a situation which we do not think is the best solution for you.

How can we prove this? Just ask any of our clients. The majority of our clients have known us for a number of years and have used us multiple times. If you don’t believe us, then please ask for references.

Step 1: An initial consultation, where we gather the necessary information on you, your background and the transaction

Step 2: We take that information and the use our years of expertise and knowledge to shortlist appropriate lenders & solutions

Step 3: We negotiate indicative terms with the interested lenders, and then present these options back to you

Step 4: We will discuss the pros and cons of each lender, and we can decide between us which solutions we wish to pursue

Step 5: We further negotiate the overall package; the pricing, the loan structure, loan covenants, timing, documentary requirements, etc.

Step 6: We present the best solution to you and then you decide whether you want to go ahead – all of this is completed for no fee

Step 7: If you want to go ahead with an application, we agree engagement terms, and then our team will manage the entire process from there

Step 8: Completion

When we do move ahead, you can introduce us to anyone we might need to speak to in order to move the transaction forward (accountants, solicitors, PA’s, Trustees, estate agents).

We are happy to deal with all of them for you, freeing up more of your time.

Our fees and charging structure will always be outlined to you in our first contact. Typically we receive a lender commision which will be disclosed to you at the time of application. We charge an engagement fee of £995 as and when we make a full application, which is after our initial consultations, market research, and sourcing a loan that you are happy with. This fee is refunded on completion.

The number of lenders varies from market to market; Bridging, Commercial Mortgages and Development Finance. In the UK we are not tied to a panel of lenders, and we have access to any lender that is able to lend against UK property. This covers UK Lenders as well as International Lenders that make loans against UK security.

As we can also arrange mortgages against overseas property, so that opens up the number of lenders further. Mainland Europe, The Caribbean and The United States are all areas that we have arranged mortgages in previously.

We don’t just use banks either, which is why we use the term ‘Lenders’. We use pension funds, insurance companies, specialist property funds, banks, building societies, hedge funds and in some cases private individuals – whatever it takes to get the job done.

The actual number is always changing, but it would typically be more than 110 different lenders across all UK sectors.

Having a good relationship with your lender is undervalued. Securing planning permission, renovating a property or selling a completed project in a slow market can be stressful. If your margins are tight and every day that ticks by is eating further into your profit margins, then the last thing you want is a lender that will create more stress for you. We know our markets and after a full assessment of your situation and your project, we will be able to find you the best lender for your project.

For us discretion is key, so we would never reveal the details of anyone who is a client.

Our client base is broad and covers most of the globe. Our clients tend to be business owners that wish to work with like-minded, entrepreneurial people. Property Finance Group was setup to cater for our ever more sophisticated client base. For example, we had UK entrepreneurs that had a residential house in London, a ski chalet in the Alps, and a holiday home in the Balearics, as well as a BTL portfolio in the UK and a side interest in property development. Our expertise and market-wide knowledge meant we were able to cater for all of their needs.

Such a client would normally have to go 5 or more different brokers, and have to manage that many relationships, just to obtain mortgages on their properties. As more of these type of clients came to us, it made sense for us to look after all of their needs under one roof, and the Property Finance Group was born.

For BTL mortgages, our clients tend to be large, portfolio landlords that want bespoke terms and ongoing guidance as to how best to manage their debt so they can take advantage of new opportunities.

For Bridging Finance, our clients are a wide range of property investors and developers, from relatively small-scale refurbishments to 40,000 square-feet office conversions.

In Development Finance we deal with small, independent developers building sites of 10-40 units, through to SME house builders that are building more than 200 units every year. We also often work with the Commercial Property Development sector, which covers; hotels, offices, student accommodation, retail and more.

For Commercial Mortgages, we deal with landlords and owner occupiers. Our clients own or operate; hotels, retail units, student accommodation, offices, warehouses, retirement homes and everything in between.

At Property Finance Group, we’re able to work with the non-conventional. The majority of our clients don’t have straightforward requirements and do not fit into the tick-box approach taken by most Mainstream Lenders. The loans we arrange are generally bespoke and designed by negotiation.