InterBay seals £54.5m refinance deal on ESG accredited offices

18 November 2024

InterBay, part of the leading specialist lender OSB Group, has supported a commercial refinance totalling £54.5m in two central London locations. The two office locations, Great Suffolk Yard and The Risborough, cover over 80,000 square footage between them and have been created to be agile.

The client has seen the workplace market change to address a post-Covid demand for considered, appealing spaces focused on amenity & wellbeing. In response, they have adapted their business model to cater to these evolving occupiers needs.

Mo Parmar, Specialist Finance Account Manager at InterBay, took the initial enquiry on 8th July, and the case took only 14 weeks to complete providing a 10 year interest only financial solution.

These buildings have extremely high ESG credentials including BREEAM* ‘Excellent’ certified and EPC ratings of ‘A’. This means the properties are not only energy efficient but they also have a holistic sustainability approach.

BREEAM accredited buildings can achieve a rental premium of around 9% on average, with publicly listed tenants more likely to disclose their corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and therefore more likely to occupy a sustainable-labelled space1. This research is mirrored in this case with national and international tenants occupying of the majority of these office spaces, helping to support their own net zero goals.

It was reported in September 2024, that only 13% of the UK workforce worked completely from home2 as the trend of hybrid or return to the office continues. However, attracting people back into office spaces means companies have to offer a much higher level of office experience with 93% of employers agreeing that employees’ expectations are changing3.

InterBay’s in-house sales, underwriting and completions as well as the external legal team at Paris Smith, meant that the deal was actively managed with any potential challenges identified and resolved swifty.

Adrian Moloney, Group Intermediary Director, OSB Group said “This achievement showcases InterBay's prowess in handling substantial transactions and highlights our efficiency in turning around complex deals swiftly.

With Mo’s collaborative approach including Sales, Underwriting, and Real Estate teams working seamlessly as one, it shows once again InterBay’s expert approach to this type of commercial case.”

Ashley Slade, Managing Partner, AWS Financial Services said “Our clients business is built on high-quality long-term business relationships. The decision to proceed with InterBay as the funding partner was thoroughly considered to ensure alignment with our aspiration for the properties and core values. InterBay maintained a pro-active approach throughout to deliver a very efficient & well-executed transaction. The whole team at InterBay were thoroughly impressive and we look forward to working with them for future projects.”

* https://breeam.com/about/how-breeam-works
1 https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/115784/1/occupiers___esg_feb_2024_final.pdf page 2
2 https://www.statista.com/statistics/1207746/coronavirus-working-location-trends-britain/
3 https://img.response.aonunited.com/Web/AonUnited/%7B5911d454-f511-4482-b999-78fb23756ae4%7D_Aon's_UK_Benefits_and_Trends_Survey_2022_FINAL_280122.pdf page 21