A South East-based SME house builder approached us with a complex and ambitious scheme in Kent. Having purchased the land without planning permission a few years prior, they successfully secured planning for 11 houses – six designated as self-build plots and five as traditional build-to-sell units.


The project presented several challenges:


• The client had already sold three of the self-build plots and completed significant infrastructure works, including the road and utilities, but needed funding to continue selling the remaining self-build plots while simultaneously building out the five spec units.

• The complication arose because all eight remaining plots were on a single title, making it difficult to separate and finance the units individually.
• Furthermore, due to the client purchasing the site without planning and adding substantial value themselves, the loan-to-cost ratio was unusually high (a structure that many lenders were uncomfortable supporting due to the absence of significant “hard equity” left in the deal).


We sourced a lender willing to take a flexible and pragmatic view of the situation. They structured the finance into two distinct parts:

• The first was a traditional development facility of approximately £4.6 million, offered at 65% Loan-to-Value (LTV), and crucially, they were willing to ignore the standard loan-to-cost metric given the uplift in value the client had created.

• Equally important to the client was the ability to continue selling the three remaining self-build plots and retain the proceeds to repay investors, rather than having all sale proceeds tied into reducing the development loan.

To achieve this, the lender agreed to structure a separate bridging loan secured against the land with planning for the three self-build units. This facility provided £920,000 at 50% LTV to clear the existing debt. They also agreed to release the charge over the self-build plots once the bridging loan was repaid—something most other lenders were unwilling to offer, as they typically wanted the proceeds to go directly towards reducing their development facility.


We successfully secured a total loan package of £5,584,880 against a property value of £10,875,000. The client now has the flexibility to sell the remaining self-build plots independently, repay their investors swiftly, and complete the development of the five spec units without unnecessary restrictions.

This case perfectly demonstrates our ability to find creative, client-first solutions, even when the structure and requirements are far from straightforward. By understanding our client’s commercial priorities and leveraging our network of flexible lenders, we delivered a tailored funding solution that worked for everyone involved.