A bespoke high-leverage mortgage enabled a business owner to purchase a £5M Cotswolds property while preserving flexibility ahead of a planned business sale.

• Client: UK-based business owner
• Challenge: High-LTV borrowing despite modest declared income
• Loan Amount: £4.5M mortgage at 90% LTV

A business owner approached us to arrange finance for the purchase of a £5M property in the Cotswolds. On the surface, the case looked challenging. The client’s declared income, based on recent tax returns, was under £300,000 per year, and they already had borrowing secured against their existing home, which they intended to keep.

However, the tax return only reflected a small part of the overall financial picture.

The client owned a successful business that had grown significantly in value over recent years and was expected to be sold within the following 12 months. Like many entrepreneurs preparing for an exit, the client had prioritised reinvestment into the business rather than drawing large personal income.

This created a disconnect between taxable income and real financial strength.

Most mainstream lenders focus heavily on salary, dividends, and declared earnings when assessing affordability. That approach often works poorly for business owners, particularly those building value ahead of a sale. In this case, the client’s personal drawings did not accurately reflect their wealth, repayment capacity, or wider balance sheet.

We sourced a lender willing to look at the full picture rather than relying solely on historic income. The lender took comfort from the strength of the business, the client’s wider asset position, and evidence that professional advisers had already been engaged to support the planned sale process.

Importantly, the repayment strategy did not rely solely on the business sale completing. While the anticipated liquidity event provided a clear route to reducing leverage, the lender also recognised that the business had sufficient strength to support increased dividends or alternative remuneration if required.

A £4.5M mortgage was arranged at 90% loan-to-value on an interest-only basis over a 10-year term. This gave the client the flexibility to complete the purchase well ahead of the business exit while preserving capital and maintaining control over future planning.

This case highlights a common issue for entrepreneurs: declared income rarely tells the full story. The right lender looks beyond tax returns and focuses on the strength of the underlying business, the wider asset base, and the credibility of the repayment strategy.