The borrower required the funds to build four luxury homes in the shell of a barn building.

According to Hassan Mahmood, solicitor at Harris Cuffaro & Nichols, and Peter Williams, CEO at Propp, there were several challenges encountered when arranging the loan — including issues with the pre-commencement planning conditions.

“We had to wait many weeks for the pre-commencement planning conditions to be satisfied and signed off,” Hassan explained.

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“Once they were resolved, we had to obtain a deed of easement from an adjoining land owner to permit the variation of an accessway, and balance this with the client’s needs while not risking the breach of any planning and satisfying the lender that this was the case.”

In the end, the team was able to overcome these obstacles, and the £2.2m loan was completed over a 21-month term, priced at HTB’s standard variable rate + 5.10%.

Commenting on the deal, Peter said: “This case was an excellent example of broker, lender and solicitors working together with a will to overcome challenges.

“I want to give my thanks to Dan Boswell [portfolio manager for development finance] at HTB for his drive to get this deal over the line, and Hassan for being hugely proactive, showing real tenacity to overcome several legal obstacles from start to finish.”