Over 300 years
of combined
experience in
property lending.
Our team have been lending and processing bridging loans for over two generations of family lenders. We have a combined experience of over 300 years in property lending.
Our backgrounds range from accountancy, finance, insolvency practitioners, the legal profession (barristers and solicitors) and loan underwriting
We believe that our experience has taught us the loans to enter into and the loans to turn down. Importantly we appreciate the loan-to-value criteria for different types of properties as well as when to allow a loan extension and when to repossess.
We have developed extensive due diligence processes and procedures with excellent fraud prevention systems.
How it works
Investor ethos
Our ethos is to prioritise the quality of our loans, not the quantity. As such, we seek to grow our business by only financing loans that we would be willing to invest in ourselves. We are content to lend less money than our peers as we seek to prioritise the safety of our loans over the volume.
Investor UK property security
All of Somo’s underlying loans are secured over UK property by a short-term mortgage or legal charge. In the event that the borrower fails to repay the loan, then the loan may be recovered by repossessing and selling the property subject to the value of the property when it is sold. Please note, this may take time and may create added costs.
All loans are
secured over
UK property.
Ringfenced
At all times, the property used as Security is held in a ring-fenced Trust and your funds are held in a separate Client Trust account.
Should Somo stop trading or become insolvent, then your interests in the loans, the security and your funds held by the company are protected. The liquidator or administrator should be obliged to recognise the trust arrangements and use the property and funds held in trust to return capital and interest to the relevant Lenders pro rata to your loan and capital (and not apply these assets towards Somo’s creditors generally).
Zero Capital Losses
Every Loan Capital Repaid In Full
Somo has been trading for over 10 years and has underwritten loans worth over £403,000,000. We are pleased to state that we have experienced zero capital losses. Capital losses are only categorised when all reasonable avenues of recovery have been exhausted. Furthermore, every loan - bar 8 - has redeemed, and we have repaid investors interest at the advertised rate in full.
2nd Generation Family Experience
Over £403,000,000 successfully lent
The Somo team have successfully underwritten over £403,000,000 since inception in 2014. The company formed from a 2nd generation family of bridging lenders and now boasts experts from property, finance and legal backgrounds. The team has a combined 300+ years of lending experience.
Over
£403,000,000
successfully lent
Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment, and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more.
Your Capital is at Risk.
Past performance is not a necessarily reliable indicator of future results.
Risk Warning: All of your capital and uncredited interest is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. There are many risks involved in lending and you should seek independent financial advice if you are not sure about the risks. This is a high-risk investment and is much riskier than a savings account. Do not lend more than you can afford to lose. Your loan interest repayment may take longer than you expect. A capital loss is recognised after all reasonable avenues of loan recovery have been exhausted. Property values may go up or down. You may be able to sell your loan back to the firm, provided that there are other willing lenders to take your place. You should not rely on the ability to re-sell the loan and you may have to sell it at a discount if you need liquidity quickly. Your loans are not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and you may not have any rights with the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Secured over UK property
Our three-tiered safety rules
1.
Equity / loan to value
We underwrite each loan with the aim that the loan to value (LTV) is at a level which ensures that there is sufficient equity in the security to cover the amount that each borrower owes together with any accrued interest and fees that relate to collection of the loan.
2.
Security
We take a charge or restriction over UK property (like a short-term mortgage). It is this security that is the most important consideration when lending money.
3.
Repayment
We ensure that every deal has at least one clearly defined exit plan for the borrower. This is usually the sale or refinance of a property within the loan period or the refinance of a property on a traditional mortgage or the repayment of the loan from the proceeds of a business venture. Often we insist on a second exit plan as well.
Thorough Underwriting & Due Diligence
Indemnity
The surveyors also provide an indemnity insurance against a negligent valuation. This may provide an extra layer of comfort. Should the valuation be negligent and should we suffer loss as a result of their negligent valuation, then we can pursue the surveyor’s insurance indemnity policy for any economical loss after it has been mitigated.
Please note that all claims made against a surveyor’s policy are subject to the usual rigorous tests that an insurance company would make. They may seek to deny our claim or allege some contributory negligence. Past performance is not necessarily a reliable indicator of future performance.
Investor UK property security
We undertake an extensive variety of far reaching searches on the borrower (and the borrower's solicitor) to ensure that all parties and the statements of the borrower are backed up with evidence.
We search credit reference agencies and undertake insolvency searches, courts searches, bankruptcy searches, and Politically Exposed Person (PEP) sanctions.
Additionally, our fraud prevention technology plugs into major credit agencies, and we ensure that every borrower provides identification and documentation that is authenticated to a high level of security.
Fraud
We have extensive anti-fraud technology that has been developed over many years to safeguard against identity fraud, title fraud and property fraud.
Choose from multiple loans
You have access to multiple loans and as such, you can choose from different repayment deadlines, interest rates, loan to values and security types.
Valuations and Loan To Value
We always obtain an independent property valuation from one of our panelled or approved Royal Institute Of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) that have passed our due diligence and compliance procedures.
We check their experience and the level of their indemnity cover to insure against any negligence or undervalued properties.
The valuer will physically visit and inspect the property and provide us with a comprehensive report and photos of the property that we are lending against. This will include details on the local market and evidence of comparable recent sales for the property as well as any other specific requirements that are of importance.
Solicitors
Our solicitors are an award winning solicitor's practise with a specialism in bridging loans and mortgage lending. They undertake additional due diligence on every borrower as well as the property security, title deeds, local searches and borrower’s solicitor. Our solicitors draft the loan agreement that have been refined using years of experience as well as registering the legal charge over the security (unless the borrower’s solicitor is registering the charge).
We perform extensive due diligence on the borrowers solicitor, and aim to ensure that they have indemnity cover and, usually, at least three Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) approved partners. Every borrower is required to have independent legal advice.
The borrower's solicitor certifies that they have spoken to the borrower and explained the loan agreement and the consequences of not repaying the loan. This is done so that the borrower cannot state they were unaware of what they were entering into and unsure of the potential consequences if they do not repay the loan.
The solicitor also witnesses their signature of the loan and mortgage to ensure that the right borrower signs the contracts.
FAQs & Risks
You’ll find the answers to many frequently asked questions here and our Investor Team are always on hand to speak to you.