Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) has provided a £7.2 million residential development finance facility for an airspace extension project above an existing mixed-use building in Wood Green, north London.
The 20-month facility will fund a three-storey upward extension that will add nine residential units above the current three-storey structure. Upon completion, the building will contain 22 residential units, up from the current 13, while retaining ground-floor commercial space occupied by a national retailer on a long-term lease.
The property is located within walking distance of Turnpike Lane Underground Station in Zone 3. Planning permission for the extension was granted in October 2025, with structural reinforcement works completed and approved before funding was released.
Funding structure and sustainability features
HTB structured the facility across two lending products to enable refinancing of an existing lender while development work continues above the occupied building. The commercial unit’s rental income supports debt servicing, while the development component operates within a fully funded structure.
Design plans incorporate sustainability measures including a green roof, heat pumps, solar panels, and improvements to the existing building fabric.
The borrower, a London-based developer with experience in complex urban projects, plans to retain the asset upon completion and refinance through HTB’s specialist mortgages division. Aria Finance managing director Lucy Waters introduced the transaction.
Market context for airspace development
The transaction reflects a broader trend in established London locations where housing delivery increasingly relies on intensification of existing sites rather than greenfield expansion. Airspace schemes involve constructing additional floors on existing buildings, a method gaining traction in urban areas with limited development land.
Alexia Evans, lending director at HTB, said: “We needed to deliver a full refinance while protecting the development above occupied space and maintaining momentum on site. By restructuring the funding across two products, we were able to meet the borrower’s day-one refinance requirement without introducing additional security or compromising risk discipline.”
Neil Leitch, managing director of development finance at HTB, noted: “In established London locations, new housing is increasingly delivered through intensification rather than expansion. Airspace schemes test capital discipline as much as construction capability.”
Colliers provided valuation services, Project & Building Consultancy acted as monitoring surveyor, and Glovers advised on legal matters. HTB’s team included relationship managers Olivia Emmett and Elysia Walters, alongside business development manager Scott Apps.
The facility represents an expansion of HTB’s relationship with an existing bank customer, now extending to development finance.
