• Development loan
• Loan amount: £160,000
• Day one funding: £92,500
• GDV: £410,000
• Term: 12 months

Roma Finance was approached by intermediary The Lending Channel Limited, to support a borrower who required funding to convert their commercial property into a flat for holiday let or Airbnb purposes.

The property is situated in the centre of Edinburgh, surrounded by multiple mixed commercial and residential properties. Immediately below the accommodation lies a commercial premises of a licensed trade and retailed nature.

The borrower was gifted part of the property that was formally owned by a family member, which had already been partitioned off into a flat previously and had a separate entrance from the remainder of the building.

Planning was already granted on the first half of the application and the borrower was waiting on the second half as it was a listed building, but due to the COVID pandemic, the valuers who were inspecting and the builders on-site couldn’t attend or continue with works, therefore delaying it for a few months.

The residential dwelling now benefits from three en-suite bedrooms, a kitchen, an open plan living/dining room, together with storage and circulation space.

Samantha Williamson, Bridging & Development Specialist at Roma Finance commented “It was great to have been able to complete on this deal and get it over the line, as it was unfortunate that we were hit with the COVID pandemic but we managed to stick to the terms of the deal which was important to ourselves and the borrowers. With the property being based in Scotland, the borrowers did face long delays in gaining planning consent and receiving valuations, but after such a long process, the development has been completed and looks fantastic! The borrowers were a pleasure to work with and we look forward to any future deals they may bring our way.”

Our borrower also added “After not being able to get a mortgage on our property due to it not being habitable, Roma provided us the funds we required to completely refurbish the entire property. Without them, we couldn’t have gotten it to the loveable condition it’s in today. The service was fantastic and felt completely personalised. The team always kept in touch with us, especially Vicky who was amazing, and any questions we needed to ask were answered almost immediately. Our overall experience with Roma was exceptional. Thank you so much!”

Their intended exit is to refinance or sell.