Refurbishment finance
Light cosmetic work through to heavy structural projects, funded in stages as the works progress rather than handed over on day one.
Light works and heavy works
Lenders draw the line roughly here. Light refurbishment is cosmetic and non-structural — kitchens, bathrooms, rewiring, redecoration, work that needs neither planning consent nor building regulations sign-off. Heavy refurbishment involves structural change, extension, a change of use, or anything that takes the property out of habitable condition while the work is done.
The distinction matters because the two are priced and structured differently, and because a project you think of as light is quite often heavy in a lender's eyes. Describe the works accurately and the facility gets placed accurately.
What we can fund
- Residential houses and flats being upgraded to sell or to let
- Conversions and permitted development schemes
- Mixed-use and commercial units
- Portfolios being brought up to standard
- Works on an asset you already own, funded by refinance
How staged funding works
An opening tranche covers the purchase, or releases equity if the asset is already yours. The works budget then follows in stages as the project progresses, typically inspected before each release.
Two things follow from that, and both are worth planning for. You need working capital to reach the first inspection, because the money arrives after the work rather than before it. And the pace at which a lender inspects and releases will shape your programme at least as much as the rate does.
What to send us
- The purchase price, or the current value if you hold it already
- The cost of the works, and how firm that figure is
- What the property should be worth once the works are finished
- Whether the works are light or heavy, and whether consents are needed
- The location, the term you need, and how you plan to repay
Where refurbishment sits
Between a bridge and a development facility. If you are buying something tired, improving it, and then either selling it or refinancing onto a term product once it is worth more, this is usually the right product. If the building is coming down or going up from nothing, that is development finance. If you simply need to move quickly and the works are incidental, a bridge may be cleaner.