Deal Type: Working capital for development project
Loan Amount: £30k
Loan Type: FastTrack
Security: Personal Guarantee
Region: South
After acquiring the perfect piece of land, a small building company looking to develop a property faced a significant challenge—it had to arrange for the demolition of a structure that was sitting on the land.
Finance development was in place, but wouldn’t be active until after the demolition work had been completed. In order to fund the demolition and get the project started, the company needed to borrow £30k.
The company knew visiting traditional lenders for a loan was unlikely to be successful for several reasons:
- As a small building company, the property development was a step up in the scale of projects they typically worked on.
- The company had never worked as a partner in a development project before.
- Its credit history and lack of management accounts were likely to prove problematic for the banks.
- To date, the company turnover had been small, especially compared to the size of the project.
- Even if a bank did approve the loan, the process would take a long time—time the company simply didn’t have.
- If the demolition didn’t go to plan, the company may have been stuck without the necessary cash to complete the build. The demolition needed to be completed to a sufficient standard to get signed off so that the rest of the property development could go ahead.
Reparo was able to provide the company with the initial £30k to cover the demolition work, which kick-started the project and paved the way for the development finance stage to begin.
Before providing the lending, the team organised a visit to the site to understand more about the specifics of the project.
They reviewed the development finance agreement and were comfortable that it was sensible. They also double-checked that all valuations were complete.
Reparo also looked into the history of the company’s business partner, and found a highly experienced individual with a great track record. They also looked at the planning, and could see that the project had been very carefully thought out.
With strong key players, thorough project planning and secure development finance, Reparo was happy to make the loan and organised the £30k cash injection quickly.
Reparo Relationship Manager Jason Cossey said: “It can be very difficult for smaller builders to gain the money they need to scale fast enough, and all too often the banks just won’t be flexible on their rigid criteria.”
Managing Director Andrew Ward added: “When we took a deeper look, we quickly discovered that the builder and his partner were experienced and both had good track records. After looking at all of the elements in the project, we were very happy to provide the lending.”
To discuss a loan of between £10,000 and £1m, please get in touch with one of the team at contact@reparofinance.co.uk or on 0161 451 5710.