How a Portsmouth commercial mortgage actually completes

Initial enquiry and free deal assessment, 2-hour response

You send us the basics: property type and address, purchase price or current valuation, deposit position, and either the last two years of business accounts (owner-occupier or trading-business) or the lease and rent roll (commercial investment). We read the deal against current Portsmouth lender appetite and call you back within two business hours during the working day. A recent Southsea (PO4) eight-property HMO portfolio refinance came in at nine in the morning and had a structured view back before lunch. The first conversation is diagnostic and free of charge, no application form, no credit check, no fees committed. We tell you whether the deal is fundable, where the likely friction sits, what the probable LTV and rate range look like, which two or three lender desks we would target first, and what evidence we will need to package the credit submission. If the numbers do not work, you hear it on this call. No wasted valuer fees, no wasted legal time.

Lender shortlist and indicative terms, within 48 hours

We run the deal across three to five lender desks from the panel, typically a mix of high-street commercial (NatWest, Lloyds, Barclays, Santander), challenger banks (Allica Bank, Hampshire Trust Bank, Cambridge & Counties, YBS Commercial, Aldermore) and specialists (InterBay Commercial, LendInvest, Cynergy Bank, Shawbrook) where the deal needs them, plus Paragon, Together, Foundation Home Loans and Fleet Mortgages on the HMO portfolio side. On a recent Southsea and North End HMO portfolio remortgage we ran a four-lender shortlist back inside 36 hours, with a 73 percent LTV bid at 7.55 percent pa from a HMO-friendly specialist and a 70 percent LTV bid from a high-street challenger 25 basis points wider. Indicative terms come back inside 48 hours: rate, LTV, term, repayment basis, EBITDA or ICR / DSCR cover, fees, conditions precedent and the lender's appetite to commit. You see the alternatives side by side, with our view on which is the cleanest route and why. Indicative terms are not yet a binding offer, they are a strong commitment to proceed if valuation and credit underwriting confirm what we already understand.

Full application and RICS Red Book valuation

We package the credit submission to match the chosen lender's underwriting style. Owner-occupier: two years of filed accounts, current management figures, EBITDA workings, deposit proof, the sale memorandum, identity and source-of-funds documents. Investment: lease, tenant covenant pack, rent roll, the asset's historic occupancy, SPV pack if applicable. Trading-business: sector-specific evidence, CQC inspection reports for care homes, Ofsted for nurseries, NHS contract value for dental, occupancy and ADR for hotel, barrelage and licence for pubs. On a recent Queen Alexandra Hospital catchment dental owner-occupier acquisition the credit pack included three years of audited partnership accounts, the principal's CV pack, the NHS GDS contract evidence and the deposit proof from retained earnings. The lender instructs the RICS Red Book valuation against its panel of approved Hampshire valuers; the surveyor inspects the property and reports back, typically inside two to three weeks for mainstream commercial assets and three to five weeks for sector-specialist work such as a Gunwharf Quays leisure refinance, an Old Portsmouth heritage hotel acquisition or a Lakeside North Harbour multi-let office investment. We run legal pack preparation in parallel so we are not waiting in series.

Credit committee, full underwriting and formal mortgage offer

With the RICS valuation in hand and the credit pack complete, the lender's underwriter takes the case to credit committee. Committee meetings run weekly or fortnightly depending on the lender. The underwriter tests the EBITDA, ICR or DSCR cover at a stressed notional rate, reviews the valuation against the LTV requested, examines the borrower's accounts, the sector exposure on their book, and any conditions precedent. Approval typically follows within one to two weeks of valuation sign-off on a clean case. The lender then issues a <strong>formal mortgage offer</strong> setting out the binding terms: rate, term, fees, security, personal guarantee position, covenants and any conditions to satisfy before drawdown. We review the offer with you in detail before you accept. Push-back at this stage is sometimes possible, covenant amendments, reduced personal guarantee, fee adjustments, and is worth doing where the case supports it. On a recent Gunwharf Quays leisure refinance we negotiated the personal guarantee cap down from 30 percent of facility to 22 percent on the strength of a strong operator track record across two previous South Coast hospitality sites.

Legals, completion and drawdown of funds

On offer acceptance, the lender instructs its solicitor and you instruct yours. The legal workstream covers the facility agreement, the first legal charge over the property, any debenture, any all-monies guarantee, the personal guarantee, title investigation, search results, planning compliance, and CPSE replies if commercial investment. Standard commercial conveyancing runs three to four weeks from instruction; complex or multi-asset cases longer. Once the solicitors are satisfied with conditions precedent, completion is fixed for a date that suits both sides. On the day of completion the lender remits the funds to your solicitor; the property transfers; first legal charge registers at HM Land Registry; and your solicitor pays the vendor or redeems the existing facility. <strong>Drawdown is a single tranche</strong>, commercial mortgages are not staged like development finance. Your monthly repayment cycle starts the following month. A typical Portsmouth completion runs 4 to 8 weeks from indicative terms; our fastest clean owner-occupier on a Lakeside North Harbour professional office acquisition was 28 working days from initial enquiry.