A developer has secured a £1.9m refurbishment bridging loan from Aspen Bridging to convert a Grade I listed office building in Bath city centre into five residential apartments.
The financing structure includes an initial advance of £800,000 at 80% loan-to-value, which refinances an existing £550,000 purchase facility and provides £250,000 for initial works. The remaining £1.1m will be released through staged development drawdowns.
Project details
The borrower acquired the building off-market in 2025. Located on a corner plot in Bath town centre, the property is described as being in poor condition. The conversion will create five two-bedroom apartments, each with dual aspects. The completed scheme has an estimated gross development value of approximately £2.7m.
Aspen completed the underwriting process in six weeks, with its in-house development monitoring team involved from the outset. The lender will visit the site within 48 hours of each drawdown request and release funds within 72 hours. This approach removes the need for the borrower to appoint a third-party monitoring surveyor.
The bridging loan carries a monthly interest rate of 0.79% over an 18-month term. The developer intends to retain the completed apartments as income-producing assets within an existing investment portfolio and will exit through refinancing. This approach aligns with broader trends in the buy-to-let sector, where developers are increasingly building rental portfolios.
Developer track record
According to Laura Randall, senior underwriter at Aspen who handled the application, the project is being undertaken by a developer who has completed 25 projects with combined GDVs exceeding £20m in the past 12 months.
The conversion of office buildings to residential use continues to be a feature of the property development market, particularly in heritage cities like Bath where planning permissions for such conversions can present both opportunities and challenges for developers seeking to add to their rental portfolios.
