Property refurbishment finance doubles over last 12 months

Property refurbishment projects have seen funding more than double in the last year, according to the latest sentiment survey of over 250 financial intermediaries.

Bridging loans for property refurbishment, property development, and conversions totalled £1.29 billion over the twelve months to April 2014. This equates to just over 2,800 separate projects.

By comparison, equivalent lending totalled just £639 million over the previous twelve months to April 2013. Property refurbishment loans also represent a growing proportion of all short-term secured lending. Loans for all forms of property improvement now represent 61% of total industry gross bridging finance. This compares to 47% in September 2013 and 40% one year ago.

Bridging finance is becoming more flexible and more suited to this post-recession world. New lending practices are gradually bringing more properties into use – those which have been empty for too long. Short-term bridging loans no longer mean purely ‘bridging’ between properties, but these lenders also have appetite to fund property refurbishment projects which traditional lenders will shy away from.

Across the UK, and notably in London, property refurbishment, rather than new development, is at the core of property development. A number of our clients are also taking advantage of permitted development rights, and conversions from office to residential are now increasingly common.

Vision Finance has built strong relationships with lenders and private funders willing to offer property developers as much as 70% of the purchase price, and additionally fund 100% of the refurbishment costs. This allows our clients to undertake larger projects, and increase their own returns through leverage.

If you would like to speak to an advisor to further understand how bridging finance might be suitable for property refurbishments and conversions, please call us on 0207 206 2500, or alternatively email us at bridging@visionfinance.co.uk