How Property Developers Can Access Finance Now CBILS Loans Have Ended

Life After CBILS

CBILS, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, has provided temporarily relief to millions of businesses in the UK – though, a year on from the closing deadline and with arrangements set to change, now is a perfect time to re-evaluate your commercial interests.

Recap

CBILS was a government-backed initiative that gave companies affected by covid support during the peak of the outbreak.

For property development, this meant:

• The ability to release £5m per site
• The government swallowed lender and interest fees for 12 months
• Up to 75% of the net site value was available

There were as many as 1.67 million loans approved, which is the equivalent to 28% of all UK businesses. Of the 1.67 million, at least 19% was given to the property and construction sector, ensuring that less revenue was lost and disruptions in cashflow could be rectified. Since CBILS property development loans were put in place there are considerations that need to be made…

• An increase in the cost of labour and materials meant shortfalls in the budget, which led to unwanted delays in developments
• Any valuations made during the lockdown period would have been low and thus not reflected what your property would be worth today
• There may be a greater desire to retain assets rather than dispose

We know there is reluctance to extend loans, due to the potential for additional information and details on why this occurred being required by the British Business Bank. Couple this with the fact that from month 13 onwards clients will have to start paying interest, you can see why it’s an ideal time to review your current funding position and understand what is currently available in the marketplace.

Your Options Going Forward

With multiple lenders in the marketplace offering a range of funding opportunities, it is now more important than ever to have a debt advisory firm like Pure Structured Finance to work as a voice for you, your project and professional team.

Examples of where we are assisting clients

• Refinancing options for CBILS loans that from month 13 onwards will start being charged interest and putting in place a lower cost of funds
• Raising capital on lowly-geared, unencumbered units on a development which clients are then using to purchase their next site
• Assisting to repay debt on developments with senior debt in place at 55/60/65% LTGDV (with or without mezzanine finance to repay) and move onto a cheaper cost of funding
• Providing an injection of capital for costly builds and overrun projects that your current funder is unable to facilitate for part completed developments
• Providing a long-term investment solution so properties can be rented and retained

Case Study Example: Developer Exit from CBILS

– 7 houses near the M25 were built using development finance
– Some houses were under offer
– The development lender had debt of £2.9M which had now reverted to a high follow on rate after CBILS
– The borrower had an opportunity to purchase another site and needed to raise funds towards this purchase

Pure Structured solution:

– 70% LTV loan – sufficient to clear the existing debt and provide a day one cash release
– % of funds released on every sale – to further improve the client’s cashflow during the term of the loan
– 12-month term
– 2% arrangement fee, with no exit fees
– 0.5% per month

You can use revenue in the property that holds sufficient enough equity to finance slow running, costly projects, or even to purchase a new site altogether.

If you want to discuss development finance options with our dedicated team then call us on 02080 579 178, or send details of your project and the loan required to info@purestructuredfinance.co.uk