£570k Fast Track Purchase Bridge at 75% LTV

Colenko completed a £570,000 Fast Track bridging facility to fund the purchase of a detached residential property. The applicant had been let down by a term lender and needed to complete quickly to secure the purchase. We needed to establish whether the case could be supported at 75% LTV using an AVM, then reduce delays across the valuation, underwriting and legal process.

The borrower had a good credit profile, owned an estate agency and owned further investment properties. This was important because the requested leverage was at the upper end for a transaction using an automated valuation rather than a physical inspection.

The applicant had been let down by a term lender and needed to complete the purchase very quickly or risk losing the property. Fast Track provided a way to secure the acquisition and give him a 12-month term in which to refinance onto longer-term funding. The commercial focus was less about creating a complicated structure and more about providing certainty of completion.

The main challenge was that we needed to complete very quickly. There was also an outstanding OS1 search result. Existing priority searches relating to the TP1 and easement meant the result had not yet returned, although the Land Registry daylist showed that the search had been undertaken in the lender’s favour and the priority position was protected.

Before taking on an urgent completion, we assess whether the case can genuinely be delivered within the required timeframe, and if as a separate point whether we are prepared to support the case on the commercial terms proposed.

Here, that meant understanding the nature of the deadline and the position that the borrower was in with his convincing solicitors, as well as getting comfortable with the applicant’s profile given the stretched leverage at 75% LTV with an AVM.

Underwriting began as soon as the application form arrived. Rather than working through each stage in turn, valuation, underwriting and legal work were pushed forward together, with the AVM removing the wait for a conventional valuation and title insurance helping to shorten the conveyancing timetable.

Colenko delivered a £570,000 bridging facility within 48 hours, allowing the applicant to secure the purchase after the original term lender had failed to provide the funding needed in time.

• Completion within 48 hours is possible if you properly assess a case and commit from the outset.
• Fast completion is as much about mindset as anything else. Having taken on a case, we take the stance that any challenge can be dealt with and overcome, rather than looking for excuses.
• Using an AVM is essential to getting a Fast Track case though.
• Title insurance removes unnecessary legal delays where the completion timetable cannot accommodate a conventional process.

For more on funding where completion timescales are critical, see our Fast Track page.