Comment


Many contenders fight for top flight in the top gun space of bridging


they’ve launched with a bang but how high the top guns fly remains to be seen over the coming months


or is the more likely reason for


by Julian ingall, director, Coreco Specialist Finance


in the bridging world two months is a long time, even with the summer months supposedly putting the brakes on activity. Well not this year: there has been more activity than i can remember. in the last issue of Bridging


Introducer i gave my views on what was happening in the top gun space of bridging. the focus was on the depth of the lenders’ pockets rather than what was actually happening on the lending front, which may have been a slightly short sighted view.


upsetting the appleCart can Alan cleary and his merry men and women of Precise Mortgages unsettle the number one apple cart of dragonfly? the Precise team work on a strict


process basis, more competitively priced than most with a clear scope for volume. i for one am expecting some big things from them in the coming year, but maybe the move into the high level space isn’t occurring as quickly as we would all like? And with the exit of Paul Munford


at omni what is really going on we ask? is it, was it a fleeting visit by the candy boys and just a time when they were a little short of stock and lending seemed a good idea?


the departure of Paul the entrance of former Money Partners chief executive colin Sanders, who has a depth of experience in the packaging markets? either way the move has dispelled the perceived conflict in London brokers’ eyes with Munford’s other business Mortgage centre iFA. it’s also good to see the resurgence


of tiuta with its “can do” approach back after what was perceived to be a turbulent time of indecision. they are returning with a breath of fresh air. Last month they closed a bridge for


us in 3.5 working days from speaking to the client to the money being received by solicitor - even though the client tried on a number of occasions to mess up the loan by ignoring specific instructions. the client had to get one of his


employees to travel down to London on the train from Yorkshire with some original documents; he was two weeks over the completion deadline and the family he was buying the house from were on the street; and he had sauntered off to the States on holiday. despite it being a logistical


nightmare, tiuta made sure the deal got done.


Changing FoCus to compete in the top space often complex solutions are required. Frequently developers and investors have other assets and to be able to provide lending options a second charge or unilateral charge may be of use to complete the picture.


18 bridging introducer september 2011 More and more of the bridging


market have started to move their focus into the development and mezzanine space in the last year. thankfully there is a clear appetite to lend in this arena.


mezzanine in praCtiCe A recent example is of an investor who requested our services when faced with a short fall of £2m to complete a residential project. We introduced a mezzanine bridger to our client which not only offered the necessary funds to complete the project but also additional funding to secure the first charge interest for a year.


hear the hand rubbing so with the equity markets in free fall and the world in brace position for the knock-ons i can almost hear the hand rubbing of the specialist market ready and waiting to assist. With such events comes more


opportunity to the bridging community, where the banks are leaving gaping holes. there’s been a noticeable change


in the last few quarters where the likes of the rbs group now seemingly doing whatever they can to replenish its balance sheet. We have seen a plethora of offerings from the sensible through to the ridiculous. to realign some of their back book debt, new yet unattractive terms are being offered by some of our government owned lenders, with a nice fee to boot.


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