LHV Bank has completed two specialist buy-to-let transactions totalling around £22m, supporting the acquisition of two SPV companies holding a combined portfolio of 253 residential properties.
The portfolio comprised a mix of single-let freehold houses and Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs), all leased to a recognised social housing operator on long-term agreements. LHV Bank provided two interest-only buy-to-let facilities on five-year terms to fund the acquisitions.
Both transactions required detailed due diligence across all 253 properties, alongside additional legal and corporate work, including the negotiation and agreement of Share Purchase Agreements (SPAs). The deals were completed ahead of the borrower's year-end deadline, following close collaboration between LHV Bank's lending, legal and operational teams, specialist real estate debt advisory firm Karis Capital UK, valuers Allsop and solicitors SC&W.
"Transactions of this scale are rarely straightforward, particularly where you are combining large portfolio underwriting with corporate acquisitions and fixed completion deadlines," said George Chipperfield, lending director at LHV Bank (pictured).
"What made this case work was the willingness of everybody involved to remain commercially focused throughout the process. There was a significant amount of due diligence required across both the properties and the SPV structures, but the underlying quality of the portfolio and the long-term tenancy arrangements gave us confidence in the overall proposition.
"Cases like this also highlight the importance of having lending, legal and operational teams working closely together from the outset, because timing and coordination become just as important as the funding itself when you are dealing with 253 properties across concurrent transactions."
Christian Artemiadis, director at Karis Capital UK, echoed that view. "This was a highly involved transaction with multiple moving parts, tight timelines and a significant level of coordination required across all parties," he said.
"What stood out with LHV Bank was the consistency of communication and their willingness to remain solutions-focused throughout the process. George Chipperfield, Emma Wright and the wider team at LHV understood the commercial objectives from the outset and worked collaboratively to help both transactions complete before the year-end deadline."
