Build it
Build it
Development finance
Ground-up, conversion and part-built schemes, from site purchase to exit.
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Development finance
Which cap binds, loan to cost or loan to GDV, and the real day-one equity.
Build to Rent development
Underwritten on stabilised yield and DSCR, not sales rate.
Mezzanine and stretched senior
The gap between senior LTC and what you can fund, and the true blended cost.
Heavy refurbishment and conversion
Where refurbishment stops being a bridge: structure, change of use, drawdowns.
Part-built and rescue finance
Valuing an unfinished asset when the contractor has gone.
Bridge it
Bridge it
Bridging finance
Short-term debt where the deadline, the asset or the exit will not wait.
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Purchase bridge
Completing before the money is in place: chain breaks, tight deadlines, unmortgageable stock.
Development exit finance
Off development debt at a lower rate, to buy sales time and release equity.
Auction finance
A 28-day clock, and what must be in place before the hammer falls.
Pre-planning and planning gain
Lending against current value with planning upside.
Below market value purchase
Day-one lending against open market value rather than price.
Second charge and capital raising
Raising against existing assets, and first-charge consent.
Light refurbishment finance
Bridge plus refurb tranche, and where the development boundary sits.
Also structuredBridge to let and refinance
Hold it
Hold it
Mortgages and term finance
Long-term debt against income, once the asset is built, let or trading.
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Buy to let mortgages
ICR stress testing, limited company against personal, portfolio rules.
HMO mortgages
A higher cover test, licensing, and the two valuations a lender takes the lower of.
Commercial term, investment
Tenant covenant and lease term, and why DSCR sets the loan.
Commercial term, owner-occupier
Trading accounts and EBITDA rather than rent roll.
Portfolio refinance
Cross-collateralisation, and one facility against individual loans.
Stabilisation and term refinance
The income test replacing the GDV test, and the letting void before term debt engages.
Co-living and PBSA
An operational asset valued on income, and the operator covenant.
Run it
Run it
Business finance
Funding the business behind the property, secured on the ledger, the equipment or the covenant.
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How we work
Case studies
Articles
Tools
Development finance calculator
Size the facility against site cost, build cost and GDV.
Development exit calculator
Refinance the development facility and release equity at PC.
Bridging finance calculator
What a bridge costs, and what actually clears on day one.
Refurbishment finance calculator
Fund the purchase and 100% of the works, with interest rolled to exit.
BTL rental cover calculator
The rent a buy to let must achieve to clear a lender's cover test.
Commercial mortgage calculator
What a commercial property's income will support, and what it costs.
About
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Hold it › Commercial term, owner-occupier
Owner-occupier lending shares a name with commercial investment lending and almost nothing else. There is no tenant and no lease, so there is no rent to test coverage against. The business occupying the building is the covenant, and its accounts are the underwrite.
Lenders work from adjusted profit, usually EBITDA, and ask whether the business generates enough to service the debt while continuing to trade, at a stressed rate and with room for a bad year. Two or three years of accounts, current management figures and a forward view are the substance of the application.
The personal guarantee position is the part borrowers underestimate. Most owner-occupier lending carries directors' guarantees, sometimes supported by a charge over a home. What is being guaranteed, by whom, and capped at what, is negotiable, and it is worth negotiating before the offer rather than at completion.
Set the trading profit and the value and see what the business can borrow.
Accounts read the way a credit team reads them
Adjusted for directors' remuneration, one-off items and the rent the business will stop paying once it owns the building. That last adjustment is frequently the difference between a case that works and one that does not.
Coverage tested with room for a bad year
A business that services the debt exactly at today's trading has no headroom. Lenders test at a stressed rate and against a downside, and so should the appraisal you bring them.
The guarantee position negotiated
Whether a guarantee is capped, which directors give it, and whether a charge over a home is genuinely required. These are terms, not fixed conditions, and they are cheaper to change before the offer letter.
The building's value without your business in it
A lender is securing against a property it may one day have to sell empty. Specialist premises with a limited alternative use borrow less than generic ones, whatever the trading covenant.
Which lenders play here
Clearing banks are genuinely competitive here, particularly for established trading businesses with clean accounts, and challenger banks pick up the cases they will not. Sector matters, and so does whether the premises are specialist or readily re-lettable.
Indicative, and not an offer. What a lender will actually do depends on the scheme, the borrower and a full valuation.
What to have ready
Bring these and we can tell you where you stand.
Each one is something a lender will ask for. Having it early is the difference between a fast answer and a slow one.
✓Two to three years of accounts, plus current management figures
✓The property, the price, and what the business currently pays in rent
✓Your deposit and where it is coming from
✓A forward view: budget, pipeline, and any planned change to the business
✓Who is prepared to give guarantees, and any existing security given
✓Any fit-out or capital works the building needs before occupation
Related
Worth reading on this
Article
Commercial Mortgage Rates: What Sets Yours
Case study
£1.2m Semi-Commercial Bridge and Refinance to Commercial Mortgage
Next
Related in this pillar.
Common questions
The questions this product raises.
How is an owner-occupier commercial mortgage assessed?
On your trading accounts, not on rent. There is no tenant and no lease, so the business is the covenant. Lenders work from adjusted profit, usually EBITDA, and ask whether it services the debt at a stressed rate with room for a bad year. Two or three years of accounts, current management figures and a forward view make up the application.
Does the rent my business pays now count in my favour?
Yes, and it often decides the case. Once the business owns the building it stops paying rent, so that cost is added back to profit, alongside adjustments for directors' pay and one-off items. Make sure the lender sees the adjusted figure, not just the raw accounts.
Will I have to give a personal guarantee?
Usually, yes. Most owner-occupier lending carries directors' guarantees. Whether a guarantee is capped, and which directors give it, are terms you can negotiate. Negotiate them before the offer letter, because they are much harder to change at completion.
Do specialist premises borrow less?
Yes. The lender secures against a building it may one day have to sell empty. Premises with limited alternative use borrow less than ones that would re-let readily, however strong your business is.
Bring us the detail.
Send what you have. We will tell you what is fundable and what needs work before anyone approaches a lender.
Specialist property finance for developers who want the numbers to survive underwriting.
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Fundingwise Limited is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and arranges unregulated finance only. That means lending secured against commercial property, or against residential property that is not, and will not be, occupied by the borrower or an immediate family member as a main residence. We do not advise on or arrange regulated mortgage contracts or regulated bridging loans. Because this finance is unregulated, FCA conduct rules and access to the Financial Ombudsman Service do not apply. Fundingwise Limited is registered in England and Wales, company number 13750788.