Help! Loan Expired, Lender Recalling Loan!

Brock_and_Roll

In fairness to the OP, it usually makes financial and tax sense to finance COMMERCIAL properties on an interest only basis. Furthermore the LTV was prudent and clearly the properties are producing a good yield.

Unfortunately this is now a very common problem as so many banks have either dissapeared from the UK or have pulled out of this sector for various reasons. In the business I am involved in (residential care homes) banks used to lend circa 80% of the "BRICKS AND MORTAR" value of the property but now you would be lucky to get 50% - i.e. if you want to buy a care home business for £1.5m and the value of the freehold building is £1m, the bank will only lend £500k. Consequently the buyer would have to have £1m cash. Not suprisingly, this has caused a big slowdown in the number of transactions, but as the business yield remains the same, asking prices are static.

The bank's role is increasingly being taken by private lenders (frustrated by low rates of return on their savings) - this is where I would look for finance. If I had the spare cash and could get a 10% yield on a secured loan at 65% LTV I would bite the OP's hand off!

GM2012

Brock_and_Roll, I would like to thanks you for your comments. Would you have any idea how I would go about finding a private lender?