THE PRINCIPAL
Twenty years as a lender, principal and adviser.
Simon Osborne has more than 20 years’ experience across real estate lending, principal investment and borrower advisory. His career includes underwriting and origination roles at Deutsche Bank and Fortwell Capital, principal and asset-management experience, and advisory work through Blackbear Capital and Chiltern Finance. He has also held senior roles in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Simon leads every Chiltern mandate personally. His experience across both ownership and credit helps clients anticipate how a credit committee will assess a proposal while ensuring the facility works for the asset and its business plan.
TRACK RECORD
Selected transactions.
Transactions advised on, originated, underwritten or executed across advisory and principal roles.
Debt Advisory
£15m
Prime Central London Residential
Development Facility
Debt Advisory
£57m
South-west PBSA
Forward-funded Acquisition & Construction Facility
Debt Advisory
£20m
North-west Hospitality
Acquisition & Refurb Facility
Principal Lending
£100m
UK Senior Living Portfolio
Revolving Construction Facility
Principal Lending
£30m
London Residential
Phased Construction Facility
Debt Advisory
£19m
Regional Hotel Portfolio
Operating Asset Refinance
YOUR SITUATION
Where the cost of not knowing is highest.
International ownership structures, covenant pressure, capex requirements and tight timetables can narrow the field of credible lenders. Chiltern identifies those constraints early and builds the financing process around them.
Acquiring
Establish likely leverage, pricing and conditions before committing equity or finalising the purchase terms.
Maturing
Compare the incumbent lender’s position with the wider market while there is still time to preserve choice and negotiating leverage.
Portfolio
Plan maturities, covenant headroom, capex requirements and lender concentration across the portfolio, rather than treating each facility as an isolated decision.
HOW WE WORK
Engage Chiltern for the stage you need.
Start with an initial view of the financing position, a detailed portfolio review or full execution. Each engagement has a defined scope and deliverable.
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Financing Execution
Chiltern runs the full process: credit presentation, lender selection, term comparison, negotiation, diligence and closing. No lender is approached without your written approval. Where the position is already clear, such as an acquisition under exclusivity, execution can follow straight from the Initial Finance View.
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Position Review
The Position Review works from your documents: facility agreements, valuations, income, covenants, hedging, capex plans and ownership structure. It sets out where your debt sits against the market, or where new debt would sit: maturities, covenant headroom, lender concentration and achievable terms. It ends with a prioritised plan of what to do and in what order.
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Initial Finance View
Send five facts: the asset, its value, net income, the debt requirement and timing. Within 48 hours you receive a short written view of the lender groups likely to engage, an indicative range for leverage and pricing, and the gaps that could change either. It is built on what you tell us and on current lender appetite. No lender is approached. It tells you whether a fuller process is worth running.
WHY CHILTERN
Borrower-side advice. Relevant lender coverage.
Commercial Alignment
Chiltern acts for the borrower. The scope and fee basis for each engagement are agreed in writing before work begins. Lender fees, including arrangement, extension and exit fees, are set out alongside the margin in every term comparison.
We hold no lender mandates and receive no lender or placement fees. Lender recommendations are based on their fit for the transaction.
Lender Coverage
Chiltern considers UK clearing banks, international banks, debt funds, insurers and specialist lenders. The shortlist is built around the asset, borrower, ownership structure, leverage and timetable, informed by current market discussions rather than a fixed panel.
Where relevant, the comparison can include lenders offering Sharia-compliant finance alongside conventional routes.
THE DEBT MONITOR
What we're seeing in the market.
Periodic notes on pricing, lender appetite and structure across UK and cross-border real estate debt.
CAPITAL FLOWS
The 2021 Vintage: Why the Next 18 Months Favour Prepared Borrowers
SONIA has moved from roughly 1% to roughly 3.9% since facilities written in 2021–22 were priced. For GCC-connected borrowers, the constraint isn't lender appetite — it's a narrower panel willing to underwrite offshore ownership structures at pace. We set out what that means for anyone refinancing into next year.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Clarity before commitment.
Practical answers on scope, process, fees and confidentiality.
Chiltern advises international owners and acquirers of UK commercial real estate, together with the investment and asset managers acting for them. This includes private investors, family offices, investment companies and other professionally managed owners.
Typically £10 million to £75 million of debt secured on income-producing UK commercial real estate. Industrial, logistics and operational purpose-built student accommodation are particular areas of focus, but not exclusions.
Lawyers, tax advisers, wealth managers and agents often see a client’s financing question before anyone else does. Chiltern responds to an introduction with an Initial Finance View within 48 hours, engages the client directly once a mandate begins, and keeps the introducer informed at each major milestone, with the client’s agreement. Introducer terms are agreed individually, in writing, before any referral is progressed.
Usually with an Initial Finance View. Send five facts (the asset, its value, net income, the debt requirement and timing) and you receive a written view within 48 hours, with no fee, no NDA and no lender contact. Nothing needs to be signed and no meeting is required. Where a fuller process is worthwhile, we agree the scope in writing: a Position Review, Financing Execution, or both. Where a transaction is live and the position is already clear, you can move directly to execution.
Fees depend on the scope and are agreed in writing before work begins. Execution fees are payable on completion. Chiltern receives no lender or placement fees.
No. A lender is approached only after the scope has been agreed and you have given written approval.
Chiltern can enter into an NDA before receiving detailed information about an asset, ownership structure or existing facilities. Information is used to assess your requirement and provide the agreed service. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of how information is stored, shared and retained.
No. Chiltern Finance advises corporate borrowers on real estate debt — arranging finance for companies and other professionally managed entities. This falls outside the scope of FCA regulation, which governs advice to individual consumers, regulated mortgage contracts and consumer credit. Chiltern does not provide regulated investment advice, arrange regulated mortgage contracts, or offer consumer credit.
NEXT STEP
Start with the financing question in front of you.
Tell us about the asset, financing requirement and timing. We will establish whether Chiltern can add value and agree the appropriate next step.
Confidential initial conversation. No lender is contacted without your written approval.
