TAB funds acquisition of Grade I listed country house in two weeks
09 June 2026
£5m bridging loan maximises development value
Specialist property finance lender TAB has delivered a complex £4.55 million bridging facility to fund the acquisition and development of a Grade I listed country house in Berkshire.
Having successfully bid on the property at auction, the borrower, an experienced property investor with a substantial portfolio valued at approximately £7 million, sought a flexible funding solution via broker Rapid Bridging.
The short-term facility was secured on a first charge basis. The planned exit was via the future sale of investment properties within the wider portfolio. The borrower needed the flexibility of no monthly repayments and retained interest. The deal also combined a large refinancing requirement, an auction-driven completion deadline, and additional capital for restoration.
The property, Bere Court, is a Grade I listed country house in Pangbourne, Berkshire, that traces its origins back to the 13th century. It once served as the manor house of Pangbourne and later as a principal residence of the abbots of Reading Abbey. After the dissolution of the monasteries, the estate entered private ownership and in the 18th century, Bere Court was remodelled into an elegant Georgian red-brick mansion, retaining many of the medieval features, including vaulted cellars.
TAB arranged a tailored first charge bridging loan of approximately £4.55 million over a 12-month term at around 65 per cent loan-to-value. Interest was retained within the facility to preserve the borrower’s liquidity, with arrangement fees also added to the loan. This structure provided the speed and certainty needed to complete the auction purchase while allowing flexibility around the timing and phasing of restoration works.
The completed restoration and wider asset strategy are expected to deliver a gross development value of approximately £9 million.
The TAB team included head of sales Michael Grant, underwriting manager Chioma Amakulo and trainee underwriter Dale Collier.
Andrew Jones, the founder of Rapid Bridging, said:
“This transaction was about as specialist as it gets. It involved the acquisition of a Grade I listed heritage asset, which many traditional lenders are reluctant to finance. There were significant refinancing requirements and restoration funding.
“Completing the case from application to completion in just over two weeks was an incredible performance. Well done to all concerned. Not only did the TAB team move at breakneck speed, it was a pleasure to deal with them. The team worked proactively and collaboratively to find solutions to the challenges the transaction posed. Throughout the process, they were responsive, commercial, and committed to completing the transaction successfully. I would like to extend our particular thanks to Chioma, Michael and Dale at TAB for their outstanding support in delivering this complex £4.55 million bridging facility. I’d like to thank them for bringing momentum to lending and making history with the speed at which they worked. I look forward to completing many more transactions together in the future.”
Founded in 2018, TAB provides commercial mortgages, bridging finance and property investment opportunities through its integrated real estate finance and investment platform.
Karen Rodrigues, director of sales at TAB, said:
“Many lenders aspire to combine real technology with real service – TAB is unique in that it delivers on both. This is precisely why the team has developed such strong relationships with brokers. While we are pushing the commercial mortgage side of the business, delivering mortgages at bridging speed, we haven’t taken our foot off the short-term finance pedal. The transaction completed in just over two weeks. That speed mattered. Auction deadlines do not move. Opportunities do not wait. And many lenders avoid Grade I listed buildings. We did not. One of our values is that if a deal should be done, we will find a way to do it. The Bere Court bridge really lived up to that.”
