Roma Finance launches bridge to term product

Manchester-based bridging and development finance lender, Roma Finance, has secured institutional funding for a medium-term mortgage product.

The five-year buy-to-let mortgage is initially being offered to existing customers as a way of assessing demand.

The term product can be taken either on a repayment or interest-only basis, with rates dependent on loan-to-value (LTV). The maximum loan size is £500,000 while the maximum LTV is 75%.

With this concept, Roma customers have a number of advantages over refinancing their bridge with a third-party lender.

The scheme aims to mitigate valuation risk by using the same surveyor who valued the property before the works commenced. The increase in value of the completed property allows Roma customers to take equity out of the property which could, for example, be used to help fund their next bridging project.

What’s more, the property does not need to be fully let at the time of refinancing from bridge to term, as the borrower’s other income will be taken into account.

Roma will also offer its customers dual representation for the refinance, meaning the process of moving from bridge to term should only take a few days.

Scott Marshall, managing director at Roma Finance, said: “This unique product allows our customers to move onto their next project once their ‘build or renovate to rent’ project has been completed and is yet another example of how Roma Finance continues to find new ways to de-risk bridging loans for its customers.”

He said that understanding the exit route has always been key to a successful bridging loan and, with this new launch, Roma expects demand for the product to be huge.

Marshall added that this marks the ‘most exciting development in the evolution of Roma Finance’ since it secured its first funding line with RBS after the Brexit referendum in July 2016.

“Furthermore, over the past 18 months we have completed four other funding lines, made our lending processes perhaps the most efficient in the market, invested significantly in new people and advanced technology becoming, for example, the first bridging lender to introduce Open Banking.”