Khattoare's delight after Kuflink Bridging agrees first development loan

Kuflink Bridging's Narinder Khattoare has revealed how the short-term lender has undertaken its first development loan to expand its offering to intermediaries.

Mr Khattoare, group operations director, was speaking after the Kent-based business successfully completed its first draw down loan for £1.2 million on a partially completed nursing home in Essex.

The first tranche of £200,000 was drawn in November 2017 with the conversion project likely to take seven months to complete.

Kuflink, having undertaken extensive market research, recognised that the common denominator in successful development transactions was the experience of the developers and the track record they have established.

And according to Mr Khattoare, Kuflink Bridging has been looking for opportunities to expand its offering to intermediaries and also provide more attractive opportunities for investors through its sister company Kuflink and its P2P platform.

He said it is a move that has been on the company's radar but that the focus up until this point had been on short term commercial loans. But after reviewing the policy a decision was made to expand the company's services and to work alongside experienced developers. He said:

“We have been asked for some time whether we would consider development loans. Up to now, we have concentrated on straight short term commercial loans but after reviewing the market for this service, it was clear that if we worked with developers possessing the right know how and experience, we would be able to minimise risk and maximise the ability to respond quickly and decisively when enquiries reach us.

"For this loan we took a first charge over the property, which meant our investment was well covered at the outset. On completion of the renovations, our exposure will be less than 30 per cent LTV. We were able to provide the funding quickly because of the experience and track record of the developers, and have offered this deal on our P2P platform investors.

"Kuflink Bridging has already funded the deal and investors in Kuflink’s platform not only have the security of a first charge against the property but also that Kuflink Bridging holds the first 20 per cent of the investment itself. All in all, this is a great result for the developers and for our investors