The SPV looks tidy on Companies House. Title is clean. The valuation cleared. Then credit asks who stands behind the company and the broker replies with a one-line “directors will sign the PG” and nothing else. The bridging loan does not fall over on LTV. It stalls on a guarantor pack that never left the drafts folder.

StatusKWO prices short commercial facilities for professional investors, developers and corporate borrowers. Main-home owner-occupier files sit outside that book. The published schedule currently shows a monthly rate from 1.25%, an entry fee of 2%, an exit fee of 1.5%, LTV up to 85%, loans from £10,000 to £10,000,000+ and terms up to 16 months. Those figures sit on the product sheet. They are not a waiver of personal liability papers when the borrower is a thin SPV.

The SPV DIP that stalls when the guarantor pack never arrives

A tidy decision in principle on the company alone is not a funded facility. Most specialist desks still need named individuals behind a newco or lightly capitalised vehicle before they price.

Our SPV and Companies House pack covers the entity, PSC filings and charge registration. The source-of-funds pack covers deposit trails. The page you are reading is narrower. It is the personal guarantee evidence a specialist desk wants before it prices an unregulated commercial bridge to an SPV.

Start the enquiry with one page. Address and title number. Gross and net loan. Term. Named exit. Company name and number. Each proposed guarantor with full legal name, date of birth, residential address and role (director, shareholder, both). Say whether the guarantee will be joint and several. Say whether any guarantor will also give a charge over a personal asset. Then attach identity and net-worth papers before the glossy brochure. Credit can read a brochure in five minutes. They cannot invent a guarantor file from a covering email.

GOV.UK’s personal guarantees guidance is blunt. A personal guarantee is a legally binding agreement that the director will personally repay a debt if the company fails to meet its obligations. That is not consumer mortgage theatre for this desk. It is why a signature promise without papers comes back as a question list rather than a priced offer.

Who must guarantee and why a newco without trading history needs one

Brokers sometimes argue the charge on the property is enough. Credit still asks who is behind the company when the SPV is new, thinly capitalised or newly formed for the purchase.

GOV.UK’s director hub on personal guarantees says lenders often ask for guarantees when a company is newly formed, has limited trading history, holds a poor or no credit rating, or when the transaction involves significant money. That maps cleanly onto most purchase SPVs that sit in a specialist bridging book.

Name every director who will guarantee. Name any shareholder who will guarantee even if they are not on the board. If one director refuses and another will carry the whole risk, say so on page one. Silence forces credit to assume joint and several across the whole board and then unwind it later.

A sole director SPV still needs a full personal pack. One signature line does not replace identity, address proof and a net-worth summary. A multi-director SPV needs a clear map. Who signs. Who does not. Who is joint and several. Who is limited to a stated sum if the facility allows a capped guarantee.

Portfolio finance files with several SPVs create the same ask per borrower vehicle. Do not hide a weak guarantor behind a stronger sister company. Credit will open each SPV and each named individual.

Auction clocks make the gap worse. A hammer date with twenty-eight days to complete does not invent guarantor papers. Pre-pack the individuals before the catalogue goes live if the buyer plans to bid through a newco. Our auction finance process still needs the people behind the company as well as the lot papers.

Identity address and capacity papers for each named guarantor

Credit will not price a guarantee they cannot identify.

For each named individual send a clear passport or photocard driving licence, a recent proof of address and the residential address that will sit on the facility documents. Screenshots that crop the name fail. Expired ID fails. A director listed at a virtual office on Companies House still needs a real home address for KYC.

Capacity matters. Confirm the person is a director or shareholder with authority to bind themselves. Attach the appointment filing or the register of members extract when the name is not obvious from the public record. Our general bridging pack note already asks for identity. The guarantor zip must not skip it because the SPV pack arrived first.

Married couples and connected persons need clarity. If both are directors and both will guarantee, send two full packs. If only one will guarantee, write that plainly. Soft assumptions about “the couple” create redraws on the facility documents and burn days on an auction file.

Overseas directors need the same identity standard plus any certified copy requirements the lender’s solicitor sets. Do not treat a foreign passport scan as optional because the asset is in England. The guarantee is personal. The ID must match the person who will sign.

Politically exposed person flags and adverse media sit beside identity, not after offer. If a search already shows a PEP or a known issue, put the explanation in the first zip. Credit would rather read an honest note than discover a hit on day four of legal work.

Net worth asset summary and existing personal liabilities credit will open

A guarantee without substance is a signature. Credit wants a short net-worth picture for each guarantor.

One page is enough when it is honest. List main personal assets with approximate values. Primary residence equity if it is owned. Other investment properties and whether they are already charged. Cash and liquid investments. Business interests that are real rather than hopeful. Then list personal liabilities. Mortgages. Personal loans. Other guarantees already given. Tax debts if they exist. Credit reads the liabilities as carefully as the assets.

GOV.UK’s note on company and personal debts reminds directors that company debts and personal debts are different. A personal guarantee makes the director responsible for money owed by the company. That split is why credit asks for the personal balance sheet even when the SPV charge looks strong. The guarantee reaches past the company.

Do not invent values. Round figures with a basis beat precise fantasy. “Primary residence estimated equity £220,000 after the first charge at £480,000 advance on a £700,000 informal value” is usable. “High net worth” is not.

Existing guarantees belong on the page. If the director has already guaranteed three other SPV facilities, say so. Credit will find them in open banking or solicitor questions anyway. A stack of personal guarantees against thin personal equity changes pricing and structure. Hiding the stack wastes a week.

Bank statements for the individual help when the net-worth claim leans on cash. Three months is the usual ask. They prove the cash sits where the summary says it sits. They are not a substitute for source-of-funds papers on the deposit itself. Keep those trails in the SOF zip.

Development finance files with heavier GDV risk often need a firmer personal picture than a short refinance bridge. Say if the same guarantors sit across a bridge and a later development line. Credit prices the personal stack as a whole.

Wording is not a nicety. It changes who pays if the company defaults.

GOV.UK lists three common forms. Secured, backed by a specific personal asset. Unsecured, based on creditworthiness alone. Joint and several, where each guarantor can be pursued for the full debt. Write which form the parties expect before solicitors draft. A broker who assumes unsecured when credit expects joint and several forces a redraw.

Secured personal guarantees need their own title papers. If a director offers a charge over a personally owned flat as extra comfort, treat that as a mini security pack. Official copies. Existing first-charge consent. Equity headroom. Insurance. Our cross-collateral title pack covers multi-title security on the borrower side. The same discipline applies when the extra title sits in a personal name.

Independent legal advice is a frequent completion condition on personal guarantees. Plan for it early. Each guarantor may need to see a solicitor who is not also acting for the borrowing SPV in a conflicted way. Diaries fill. Auction files that leave ILA to the last three days miss the completion date. Name the proposed ILA firm on the one-pager when you can.

Caps and limitations need the same honesty. If credit will only accept an unlimited joint and several guarantee, do not sell the client a capped story in the covering email. If a capped guarantee is genuinely on the table, write the proposed cap and why. Hopeful negotiation language in the broker email is not facility wording.

Spouses who are not directors sometimes still face advice requirements when marital assets sit behind a guarantee or a supported charge. Flag the point. Do not discover it in the lender’s solicitor’s preliminary report.

How the guarantee sits with the charge share charge and exit papers

The personal guarantee sits beside the company security. It does not replace it.

The SPV still grants a charge over the property. Companies House still needs that charge registered within the statutory window. GOV.UK’s guidance on registering a charge and on mortgages and loan guarantees is clear that company charges must be filed. A personal guarantee is a separate personal obligation. Do not tell a client the PG removes the need for a company charge. It does not.

Share charges and debentures appear on some SPV files. Our explainer on what a share charge is and the broader debentures note cover the company-side instruments. The guarantor pack still has to clear. A share charge over the SPV shares does not identify the humans who will sign a PG.

Exit papers stay in the zip. Sale diary. Refinance illustration. Redemption figures on any first charge being cleared. Our redemption statement pack covers refinance discharges. A personal guarantee does not invent an exit. It supports recovery if the exit fails. Credit still prices the repayment path first.

On a refinance bridge, show how the take-out lender will treat personal guarantees. Some term lenders want the same directors. Some want different security. A Plan B that assumes the PG disappears overnight needs a written term illustration, not a hope.

Works and light refurb bridges need the same alignment. If cost overruns will fall on the SPV, the people who guaranteed the facility feel that pressure. Put the works budget and contingency next to the guarantor summary so credit can see personal capacity against the real risk rather than purchase LTV alone.

What brokers should put in the first guarantor zip

Brokers who send one clear zip save a day of chase. Name the files so a human can open them.

  1. One-pager with property address, title number, company name and number, loan, term, exit, each guarantor name, role, joint and several status and whether any personal asset will be charged.
  2. Passport or photocard licence and proof of address for every named guarantor.
  3. Short net-worth and liabilities summary for each guarantor with honest figures and bases.
  4. Existing personal guarantee schedule if the directors already stand behind other facilities.
  5. Companies House director and PSC extracts that match the named people.
  6. Proposed independent legal advice solicitor details when ILA will be required.
  7. Title and equity papers for any personal asset offered as secured support.
  8. Source-of-funds schedule for deposit, equity and fees in the SOF zip, not mixed into a blurry photo of a passport.
  9. Exit evidence and Plan B that still clear if the SPV defaults and the guarantee is called.
  10. Board minute or director resolution confirming authority to borrow and to request the guarantees when the company process needs it.

Keep marketing decks out of the first pass. Credit wants the people and the personal numbers. Brochures can follow.

If the file is under a short auction clock, send the guarantor zip with the memorandum and deposit papers, not after the valuation. People packs take longer than brokers expect when ILA diaries and overseas ID certification sit in the way.

Frequently asked questions

Does every SPV bridging loan need a personal guarantee?

Most thin or newly formed SPVs in the specialist book will be asked for one. A seasoned corporate borrower with substantial company assets and a long track record may see a different ask, but brokers should not assume a clean title pack removes the personal question. Put the proposed guarantors in the first enquiry.

Is a personal guarantee the same as a charge over the director’s home?

No. An unsecured personal guarantee rests on the individual’s creditworthiness and personal assets generally. A secured guarantee or a separate legal charge over a named personal property is an extra security step with its own title papers, consent and valuation work. Say which structure is on the table.

What net-worth evidence is enough for a first look?

A one-page asset and liability summary with honest figures, plus ID and address proof, is usually enough for pricing. Bank statements, Land Registry official copies on personally owned stock and existing guarantee schedules follow when credit wants depth. “High net worth” with no numbers is not enough.

Can one director refuse to guarantee if another will sign?

Sometimes, if credit accepts a single guarantor with enough personal substance. Write the refusal and the proposed structure on page one. Do not leave credit to discover a missing signature when facility documents go out. Joint and several across silent directors is a common false assumption.

ILA needs diary time. Each guarantor may need a separate solicitor appointment before they sign. On a twenty-eight day auction completion that appointment belongs in week one, not day twenty-six. Name the ILA firm early and keep the identity pack ready so the advice meeting is not spent hunting for a passport.