Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) has announced the return of Mia House to lead the development of its internal business development function.

She has rejoined the bank as head of internal business development managers (BDMs), with the team sitting alongside its regional BDMs, with a particular focus on brokers who may feel less familiar with the bank.

House previously spent more than seven years at HTB across specialist mortgages and bridging finance, latterly as senior business development director. She has also held senior roles across specialist property finance, including sales director at Century Capital, and director, short-term finance origination at Maslow Capital.

Aspen has provided a £1.9m refurbishment bridging loan to a highly experienced developer to convert a Grade I listed office building in Bath into five residential apartments.

The initial advance of £800,000, representing 80% LTV, will allow the refinance of an existing £550,000 purchase facility, as well as providing the borrower with £250,000 to commence the works.

The remaining £1.1m is available through staged development drawdowns, with the completed scheme having a GDV of £2.7m. The loan was finalised on a flat rate of 0.79% per month over 18 months.

Simplybiz Mortgages and the Financial Intermediary & Broker Association (FIBA) has announced the expansion of their specialist property and finance panel with the addition of six new lending partners.

The expansion has seen Catalyst Property Finance, Foundation for Intermediaries, Greenfield Bridging, MT Finance, Reward Funding and Together welcomed to the panel.

The specialist property finance panel forms part of a wider proposition designed to help advisers diversify their businesses, support increasingly complex client needs and unlock new revenue opportunities beyond traditional residential mortgage advice.

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