en.Wedoany.com Reported - Specialist real estate finance lender Lendhub has completed a £1.22 million development loan to fund the construction of two four-bedroom semi-detached homes in the London Borough of Havering, UK. The site is owned by the borrower and is unencumbered, with full planning permission already secured. The total gross development value is estimated at £1.75 million. The 18-month facility was introduced by Nigel Hakkak of Cobalt Financial.
The initial loan-to-value ratio is set at 13% (based on a land market value of £195,000), with the total loan-to-gross development value ratio at 70%. Interest is rolled up over the 18-month term, which includes a 12-month construction period and a six-month sales or refinancing period. The borrower holds full freehold title to the land, and this equity buffer has a direct impact on the credit structure. Planning permission was granted in June 2025, and the borrower has provided three personal guarantees. The project will be delivered via a build-to-suit arrangement through REA Construction Ltd, a related contractor under common ownership. Edward Scott of London's Surveyors & Valuers handled the valuation, with IESIS Consult acting as monitoring surveyor.
Lendhub structured the financing secured against the land equity, providing 100% of the construction costs, with drawdowns phased according to the construction schedule and monitoring conditions consistent with standard practices for such developments.
Jack Hoad, Relationship Assistant at Lendhub, said the structure was entirely determined by the borrower's own circumstances. "Development cases often revolve around leverage discussions, but here the structure was designed based on what the borrower brought to the table," he said. "Clean planning permission, owned land, and a strong personal guarantee covenant (PG covenant) gave the credit team sufficient basis for decision-making, and the loan amount was set to cover construction costs rather than to expand the initial position."
Nigel Hakkak of Cobalt Financial noted that the case required a lender capable of responding quickly. "The client had everything in place: land, planning, contractor, and equity. What they needed was a lender that could provide construction funding swiftly without revisiting the underlying case," he said. "Lendhub engaged in the structure on its own terms and provided the financing the client needed to start work on site."
