LHV Bank completes social impact loan to support housing for vulnerable tenants
13 June 2025
LHV Bank has completed a new five-year fixed rate buy-to-let facility to refinance two residential properties leased to a social housing charity, enabling the release of equity to support the acquisition of further sites.
The properties, located in Wallasey and Birkenhead, were acquired and refurbished by the borrower, Vital Homes, a property development group established in 2022 by co-founders James Levy and Elena Pashevkina, who serve as CEO and Chief Operating Officer respectively.
The pair launched the business with a shared commitment to social impact. Within its first year, Vital Homes built a portfolio worth £6.5 million, focused on housing vulnerable tenant groups including prison leavers, domestic abuse survivors and people with disabilities.
Properties are refurbished to a high standard and leased to local authorities or charity partners, providing much-needed accommodation and stability for those transitioning to independent living.
The LHV Bank facility refinanced bridging loans used to acquire and convert two HMOs, both now under long-term leases to a registered charity. The borrowers required longer-term funding that reflected the stability of their leasing arrangements and provided equity to continue their growth plans.
This transaction marks LHV Bank’s first direct loan in the social housing space. The borrower’s model is one that some lenders may have been reluctant to support, due to the complexity of leases and the specialist nature of the tenant groups involved. However, Lending Director Edwin Yamoah, who led the deal on behalf of LHV Bank, worked closely with all parties to ensure a smooth completion. The facility moved from credit approval to drawdown in just 31 calendar days, helping the client avoid a further month of bridging interest.
As part of the bank’s flexible lending approach, the deal team worked with a specialist valuer outside of the standard panel and was able to lend against market value despite a higher loan to vacant possession value than would usually be accepted.
The case follows LHV Bank’s recent £5 million commercial real estate facility to refinance two specialist care home assets, also supporting a charitable operator in the supported living sector.
LHV Bank, a fully licensed UK bank, offers SME Lending solutions for UK businesses, Banking Services for global fintechs, and Personal Savings through aggregator partnerships. The bank has seen strong demand across its SME division, with a growing number of specialist and impact-led borrowers turning to LHV for tailored funding solutions.
Edwin Yamoah, Lending Director at LHV Bank, commented:
“We were impressed by the impact Vital Homes is making through its partnerships with local authorities and charities. These are exactly the sorts of deals we want to support. Specialist housing models that fall outside the norm but are underpinned by strong operators and long-term income.
Elena Pashevkina, co-founder and COO at Vital Homes, added:
“There’s often a disconnect between what communities need and what traditional property finance is set up to support. That’s why working with a lender who sees the bigger picture is so important. LHV Bank brought insight, pragmatism and pace, and their backing sends a strong signal about what the future of socially responsible housing finance could look like.”
James Levy, co-founder and CEO at Vital Homes, noted:
“Our focus has always been on delivering high quality homes for those most in need, and LHV Bank understood that from the first conversation. They didn’t try to force our model into a standard box, but took the time to understand how we work and were practical throughout. Having that level of flexibility and responsiveness from a lender makes all the difference.”
Conor McDermott, Director of SME Lending at LHV Bank, said:
“We’re increasingly working with borrowers who want to move away from speculative growth strategies and instead focus on assets that offer reliable cash flow, development upside, or long-term social value. In that context, our partnership-led approach really comes into its own. We’re here to offer support that’s grounded in the real world, and to move quickly when a deal deserves it.”
