Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) has completed a £7.2m residential development finance facility to support an airspace development in Wood Green, north London.
The 20-month facility will fund the upward extension of an existing mixed-use building, creating nine additional residential units above the current three-storey structure.
The scheme will increase the total number of homes from 13 to 22 while retaining a ground-floor commercial unit let to a national retailer on a long-term lease.
The property is located within walking distance of Turnpike Lane Underground Station and combines established commercial income with new residential delivery in a well-connected Zone 3 location.
GREEN SPACES
Planning permission for the three-storey extension was granted in October 2025, with structural reinforcement works completed and signed off ahead of funding.
The development will include green roof space, heat pumps and solar panels, alongside improvements to the existing building.
The facility was provided to an experienced London developer and introduced by Lucy Waters, managing director of Aria Finance.
The transaction required a revised funding structure to allow the borrower to refinance their existing lender while continuing construction above occupied space.
DAY-ONE REFINANCE
HTB structured the funding across two products to enable a day-one refinance without the need for additional security.
Rental income from the existing commercial element will support servicing, while the development element has been ringfenced under a fully funded structure.
Once completed, the borrower intends to retain the asset and refinance onto longer-term investment funding through HTB’s specialist mortgages division.
The deal was led by Alexia Evans (main picture), lending director at HTB, supported by relationship managers Olivia Emmett and Elysia Walters and business development manager Scott Apps. Colliers provided the valuation, Project & Building Consultancy acted as monitoring surveyor, and legal advice was provided by Glovers.
STRUCTURE AND TIMING
Evans says: “This was a scheme where structure and timing were equally critical. We needed to deliver a full refinance while protecting the development above occupied space and maintaining momentum on site.
“By restructuring the funding across two products, we were able to meet the borrower’s day-one refinance requirement without introducing additional security or compromising risk discipline. That clarity of structure is essential when funding complex urban schemes.”
SMOOTH COMPLETION
Lucy Waters, managing director of Aria Finance, adds: “This transaction required a lender able to engage fully with the commercial structure and timing pressures involved. HTB worked decisively and collaboratively throughout, ensuring the refinance completed smoothly while the development progressed as planned.”
CAPITAL DISCIPLINE
Neil Leitch, managing director of development finance at HTB, says: “In established London locations, new housing is increasingly delivered through intensification rather than expansion. Airspace schemes test capital discipline as much as construction capability.
“They demand funding structures that recognise live income and constrained sites while maintaining clear risk parameters.
“Providing that certainty is where specialist development finance continues to add real value.”
