Brightstar partners with Castle Trust for £8m development exit deal

The businesses worked together to help a borrower who had built a block of apartments using development finance that was due for redemption.

Brightstar partners with Castle Trust for £8m development exit deal

Brightstar Financial has worked with Castle Trust to complete an £8m development exit loan on an apartment block, with some of the units due to be sold to a housing association.

Brightstar’s client had built a block of apartments using development finance that was due for redemption, but the client faced defaulting with the lender after the sales were delayed.

There was an ongoing legal dispute, which needed to be resolved prior to completion of the loan.

Brightstar was able to bring together all of the parties to resolve the legal dispute and secure the development exit funding.

This was structured by Castle Trust as two simultaneous bridging loans, one with interest serviced on a monthly basis and the other with rolled up interest.

Rob Jupp (pictured), group chief executive of Brightstar Financial and Sirius Property Finance, said: “This case is a really excellent example of how working with the right partner can make the seemingly impossible, completely achievable and deliver a great outcome for the client.

“There were so many hurdles to overcome, but our team were focussed on delivering a solution and were able to use their specialist knowledge and experience to find a way through.

“I would also like to thank the fantastic effort and understanding from Castle Trust.

“Our relationship with the lender meant we were able to work together to structure a loan with a high exposure that took legal charge over the entire development and secured funding on a high LTV against the block value of the site.

“This demonstrates the value of great partnerships.”

Barry Searle, managing director of mortgages at Castle Trust, added: “If you were looking for an example of why it’s important to work with specialist intermediaries and lenders that understand the market and how to structure solutions, there would be few better contenders than this case.

“The client faced a real problem, but we were able to work together with Brightstar to get them out of a hole and deliver a solution that will help them to achieve a successful result to their development.”