Senior Loans
Senior debt is used to acquire a property or development site and can also provide the development cost. It is classed as “Senior” debt as the lender takes a first legal charge over the property.
Usually senior lenders provide a level of funding that will require the borrower to inject a reasonable level of equity to give the lender a lower risk. Typically this type of funding provides a maximum of 75-80% of the total cost and the borrower is expected to put their equity into the land purchase. If the loan is for a development, the bank will fund all of the construction and finance cost and the remainder of the facility can be utilised towards the purchase price.
Development Loan Example
Below is a worked example for a development loan;
Project
£5,000,000 – Gross Development Value
£1,500,000 – Land Purchase
£2,000,000 – Construction Cost
£500,000 – Finance Cost
£4,000,000 – Total Cost
Bank Facility: 75% of Cost
£3,000,000 – Total Facility equating to 75% of £4m Total Cost
£2,000,000 – Construction Cost
£500,000 – Finance Cost
£500,000 – Remaining facility provided for Land Purchase
Therefore the borrower will need to inject £1,000,000 of equity alongside the bank facility of £500,000 to purchase the development site.
Generally traditional senior lenders require lower risk and will only lend on properties that provide good security or development projects with full planning permission in place. This type of funding is the lowest cost of finance due to the lower risk and the level of equity required from the borrower.
In some cases, you may not have the sufficient level of equity to use only senior debt and you may require a mezzanine loan or equity investment to help secure your project and Aureum Finance can assist.