The AI development finance “broker”.

This paper assesses a £3.2M senior development facility (55% LTGDV, 69% LTC) to fund the conversion and extension of a former Victorian school at 14 Kingsgate Terrace, Camden NW1, into 9 apartments. The 20-month facility funds a £3.40M construction programme against a GDV of £5.81M, supported by an agent appraisal at £720/ft² and two off-plan reservations. Full planning consent (ref 2025/3187/P) was granted on 14 January 2026.

The key strengths are the sponsor's track record — three completed North London schemes with an aggregate GDV of ~£11M, the most recent selling out within four months of practical completion — a 25% profit-on-cost margin, £1.45M of day-one equity (land held unencumbered since 2019 plus directors' cash), and a fixed-price JCT Design & Build contract with a named contractor. The site is under 18m, so the Building Safety Act Gateway regime does not apply.

The primary risks are scale and concentration. At £5.81M GDV this is a moderate step-up from the sponsor's largest completed scheme (£4.6M), and delivery rests on a single main contractor whose most recent filed accounts show a balance sheet thin relative to a £3.4M contract. Three routine pre-commencement conditions remain outstanding. The £378/ft² build cost is appropriate for a non-standard conversion-and-extension, but the 7% contingency is at the lower end of committee norms for period-building refurbishment, where opening-up works routinely surface unknowns.

Following rebuttals, the sponsor evidenced the contractor's performance bond terms and produced a priced bill of quantities supporting the cost plan; the contingency point was argued but not evidenced and the 7% allowance stands as a watch item. The proposal is fundable at the requested leverage. We recommend proceeding to terms, conditional on a contractor performance bond at 10% of contract value, discharge of the three pre-commencement conditions before first drawdown, and monitoring-surveyor sign-off on each stage release.

The borrowing vehicle is Kingsgate Terrace Developments Ltd (Co. No. 14382916), an SPV owned equally by Mr. Marcus Reid and Ms. Priya Anand. The directors have an 8-year joint track record across three completed North London residential schemes (aggregate GDV ~£11M): a 4-unit conversion in Tufnell Park (2019, sold out pre-completion), a 5-house infill scheme in Archway (2022) and a 6-flat new-build in Kentish Town (2024) which sold out within four months of completion at an average 2% under asking — evidence of realistic pricing rather than weak demand.

Statutory accounts for the directors' holding company, Reid Anand Property Group Ltd, for the year ending 31 March 2026 show net assets of £2.83M, including £610k of unencumbered cash and an investment portfolio of four BTL units in Manchester and Leeds. A signed statement of assets and liabilities, corroborated by the filed accounts, supports a combined net worth able to fund a 25–30% construction cost overrun from personal resources — comfortably within committee thresholds for a scheme of this size.

This scheme is a moderate step-up in unit count and GDV (from £4.6M to £5.81M). That step-up is the principal sponsor-side risk and is mitigated — not removed — by the fixed-price JCT Design & Build contract with Camden Build Partners Ltd and the appointment of an RICS monitoring surveyor on drawdowns. There is no adverse credit against either director or any connected entity; Companies House filings are current across the group.

The security is a 0.18-acre freehold site holding a former Victorian school building, acquired by the sponsor in 2019 for £980k and held debt-free since — the land equity is real and seasoned, not a day-one revaluation. Title is registered and unencumbered; a Rule 6 right-of-light insurance policy is in place for the eastern elevation following a neighbour objection withdrawn during the planning process.

Full planning consent (ref 2025/3187/P) was granted on 14 January 2026 for conversion and extension to 9 apartments (6× 2-bed, 3× 1-bed, 9,000 ft² GIA). Three standard pre-commencement conditions remain — construction management plan, materials samples and drainage strategy — all routine and dischargeable within the mobilisation period; the architect has submitted all three packages to Camden. CIL is assessed at £88,000 and priced into the appraisal. The scheme sits under the affordable-housing threshold, and at under 18m the Building Safety Act Gateway regime does not apply — removing the approval-timeline risk that has stalled comparable taller schemes.

NW1 shows persistent undersupply of new-build stock: 22 completions in the postcode district over the trailing 12 months against sustained owner-occupier and investor demand. Agents report new-build flats in the immediate area averaging four weeks to sale and rental voids under two weeks — relevant to both the primary exit and the refinance fallback.

The proposed £720/ft² sits within the range of recent comparable transactions (£713–£750/ft², table below) and carries a modest, defensible new-build premium over period re-sales. Two of the nine units are reserved off-plan at asking, which is early third-party validation of the pricing. The appraisal has not leaned on the top comparable: pricing at the median rather than the peak leaves headroom rather than requiring it.

The £3.40M construction cost across 9,000 ft² GIA equates to ~£378/ft² — appropriate for a non-standard conversion-and-extension in inner London, and now supported by a contractor-priced bill of quantities produced at rebuttal stage. An 11% consultant fee allowance and 7% contingency are included; the contingency is at the lower end of the committee's 7.5–10% norm for period-building refurbishment and remains a watch item, partially offset by the fixed-price contract transferring pricing risk to the contractor.

The 14-month build programme is realistic for the unit count and complexity, procured under a fixed-price JCT Design & Build contract with Camden Build Partners Ltd (Co. No. 09876453), a contractor the sponsor has used on two prior schemes. The contractor's most recent filed accounts show turnover of £8.9M and net assets of £412k — adequate but not deep for a £3.4M contract, which is why a performance bond at 10% of contract value is a condition precedent rather than a nice-to-have. Drawdowns are staged against RICS monitoring-surveyor certification of works in place.

The primary exit is open-market sales at ~2 units/month, evidenced by an agent market appraisal and two off-plan reservations already taken at asking. At that velocity the sales period sits inside the 6-month sales window built into the 20-month term.

The fallback is a BTL refinance at 75% LTV: at achievable rents of £2,300–£2,650/month per unit the portfolio shows an interest coverage ratio of ~138% at a 5.5% stress — above the 125% limited-company threshold — giving lenders a credible secondary route to full repayment if the sales market slows. The fallback has been modelled unit-by-unit rather than asserted, and the local rental evidence (sub-2-week voids) supports it.