£65,000 Refurbishment Bridging Loan helps a retired couple fix their rotten roof and sell their family home.

After 33 happy years in their 160‑year‑old farmhouse in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, empty nesters Jane and Tony Ryan decided that the time had come to sell their six‑bedroom home. But, when a routine inspection uncovered serious issues with a rotten roof, they were left with an almost unsellable house, leaving the couple in urgent need of a bridging loan to keep their downsizing dream alive.

The issue

As their children had left home and Jane’s mother, who had also lived with them, had sadly passed, the couple found that their family home was now too big for them. So, they set their sights on a smaller, more manageable property.

“With my parents gone and two of our sons having left home, we knew the time had come for us to downsize and we wanted a bungalow as I am not very good on stairs anymore.” Jane told us.

But, as they prepared the property for sale, disaster struck when they found out that the roof was rotting and that the farmhouse had damp throughout. Selling the house in this condition would not only prove to be challenging but also didn’t sit well with the couple.

“We’re proud of what we built over the three decades we have lived here, so we wanted to continue the legacy of the house and give the new potential owners the room to turn it into their own project.”

“We couldn’t in all conscience put it back on the market without fixing the roof.”

Looking for funding to begin the refurbishment project, Jane and Tony were left disappointed when their original mortgage lender was unable to help. However, they did introduce the couple to SPF, a mortgage broker, who knew the right specialist lender to support Jane and Tony’s grand plans.

The solution

With experience lending on properties in need of repair, our team at Together could see the potential in the project. We were confident that restoring the roof and sorting out the underlying issues would increase the value of the house enough to allow Jane and Tony to cover the repair costs, the repayment costs and buy their new home.

As the couple were looking to supplement the project with some of their own savings, we were able to provide a £65,000 regulated residential bridging loan, enabling immediate roof repairs.

The result

With the new roof completed, the farmhouse was put on the market and listed for £1.4m, with Jane and Tony hoping that it’ll make the perfect home for a new family to make their own memories.

“SPF and Together made the whole process seamless. They kept us up to date throughout the entire process and took what could have been an incredibly stressful situation and turned it into one that was stress free,” said Jane. “If we hadn’t taken out the bridging loan, I don’t believe we could have sold the house.”

Has a hidden horror threatened to derail your dream? Why not speak to one of our expert team to see how a bridging loan could help you repair your chain, fix the faults, or potentially add extra value to your property through home improvements.