“Shawbrook is a specialist lender in the commercial lending market, offering a breadth of options from straightforward buy-to-lets to more complex residential investment properties, mixed use and commercial investment properties as well as options for trading businesses. Our loans are available on various terms – short term bridges, medium term investment finance and longer term options, all of which are available to both individuals and limited companies with a transparent pricing structure.
"The refurbishment products we offer are specifically tailored for residential and mixed use light refurbishment. These products can help experienced property investors resolve a temporary cash flow situation, allowing them to complete decorative refurbishment work prior to their property being let or resold.
"We have either short term finance options or a medium term option giving the brokers and investors the flexibility to choose a product that works with their current project.
"Our medium term finance product for light refurbishment is ideal for clients purchasing a residential property with the intention of completing minor decorative refurbishment before letting out the unit, with up to 70% of the after works value available. Loans are available from £75k to £2.5m with a margin of 5.45% above 3 month LIBOR and 3 or 5-year term options on either interest only or part capital repayment.
"This product ensures the client saves on double legal fees by borrowing against the value once the works are completed. This product suits clients looking for one solution in the shape of our medium term product which would work out cheaper than going for the short term finance for six months then moving onto a term loan.
"Shawbrook’s term loans are considered slightly more expensive than vanilla BTL lenders. In the main this is because those lenders have chosen to underwrite on a rules basis, which means that their pre-determined criteria can reduce the cost of processing that business, therefore passing that saving onto the clients that meet each of their requirements.
"This tick box mentality, however discounts a lot of experienced property professionals. At Shawbrook we assess each case on its own individual merits before making a decision, using our experienced lending manager’s common sense and experience, and we are committed to providing this decision within 48-72 hours on every case.
"Some examples of our common sense approach for property investors are that we do not have a maximum limit on the amount of properties that an investor can own and we equally do not have a minimum outside income that the client must generate.
"This specific product has been designed based on feedback from one of our partner days. We continually ask our brokers to provide constructive feedback on our process and service delivery as well as discussing sensible product opportunities that they feel the market needs. Brokers are at the heart of our business and we value the relationships we share with them. Shawbrook is committed to continue its drive for excellence in both our product offering and our service delivery.”
Lucy Hodge, director at Vantage Finance, added: “We have had a very positive reaction from introducers and their investor clients to Shawbrook’s medium term product, who like the idea of being able to recoup some, or sometimes all of the refurbishment costs without having to refinance at the back end of a project.
"The medium term product really compliments the overall proposition. Shawbrook listens to its intermediaries, and following recent feedback from myself and others the bank now accepts refinances on this product too, which will open the door to more opportunities.”
