StreamBank launches £5m loan for borrowers outgrowing bridging finance

StreamBank has announced that it has launched a High Net Worth (HNW) Structured Finance product for borrowers whose repayment plans need longer than bridging finance allows. It offers loans of up to £5m over terms of up to 60 months.

The lender developed the product in response to the difficulty of completing property sales and other asset disposals within the timescales bridging finance usually allows. It targets wealthy borrowers with credible repayment strategies who need more time to repay.

The loans sit between traditional bridging finance and conventional mortgages. They pair the individual underwriting associated with short-term lending with terms of up to five years.

StreamBank will consider repayment strategies tied to the sale of higher-value properties, business disposals, share realisations and development completions, where proceeds may not arrive within a conventional 12-month bridging term.

Key terms are:

• Loan size: £350,000 to £5m, with facilities above £3m subject to additional approval
• Term: 12 to 60 months
• Maximum LTV: 65%, with lower limits for larger facilities
• Security: residential property in England, Wales and Scotland
• Use: property purchases, refinancing and evidenced capital-raising requirements
• Interest: fully rolled-up, part-serviced or fully serviced, so repayments can reflect each borrower’s circumstances and cash flow

To qualify, at least one borrower must independently have annual net income of £300,000 or more, or net assets of £3m or more, excluding their primary residence.

Richard Armstrong, chief commercial officer at StreamBank (pictured), said: “The reality is that high-value property and business transactions don’t always adhere to a 12-month timeline. A borrower can have a perfectly credible exit strategy, but achieving the right commercial outcome can sometimes take longer than originally anticipated.

“A property may be attracting genuine interest, or a business or asset sale may be progressing well, but transactions of this nature are often complex, and completion dates can move. Taking longer doesn’t necessarily make the exit less credible. In some circumstances, allowing more time can actually support a better and more commercially sensible outcome.”

“That thinking is at the heart of this product,” he added. “We’ve developed it to give qualifying borrowers greater flexibility where there is a strong underlying proposition and a clearly evidenced repayment strategy. We still apply robust underwriting, but we also recognise that substantial wealth does not necessarily mean immediate liquidity. The important thing for us is that the term of the finance reflects a realistic route to repayment, rather than assuming every credible exit can or should be delivered within 12 months.”