Commercial Finance Deal Packaging

Commercial property finance deals are assessed primarily on the income the asset produces. Unlike residential or bridging deals where the focus is on the borrower's ability to repay, commercial lenders need to understand the tenant profile, lease terms, and long-term income stability of the property.

This creates a different documentation requirement. The pack must include:

• Tenant schedules - Full list of tenants across all units, including lease start and end dates, rent amounts, payment frequency, and current arrears status.
• Lease abstracts - Key terms extracted from each lease: rent reviews, break clauses, repair obligations, permitted use, and alienation provisions.
• Rent roll analysis - Gross and net rental income, void rates, and income concentration by tenant. Lenders assess whether income is diversified or dependent on a single occupier.
• WAULT calculations - Weighted Average Unexpired Lease Term, showing the average remaining lease duration across the property, weighted by rental income.
• Service charge budgets - Annual service charge accounts showing recoverable and non-recoverable costs, with evidence of tenant contributions.
• Tenant covenant strength - Financial standing of key tenants. Company accounts, credit checks, or trading history that evidences their ability to meet lease obligations.
• Void periods and break clauses - Current void units and upcoming lease events that could affect occupancy. Lenders stress-test income against potential voids.

Commercial lenders assess three things: the quality of the tenants, the terms of the leases, and the sustainability of the income. The submission pack must present all three clearly and without ambiguity.

A disorganised pack triggers deeper scrutiny. When a lender cannot quickly locate tenant details, lease terms, or income evidence, they raise queries. Each query adds time to the underwriting process and increases the risk that the lender identifies issues that a well-structured pack would have addressed upfront.

The pack structure matters as much as the content. Tenant schedules should be presented alongside their corresponding leases. Income evidence should be cross-referenced against the rent roll. Void analysis should appear next to the tenant schedule so the lender can see the full picture in one place.

A structured pack does not just contain the right documents. It presents them in the order and format that a credit committee expects to receive them.

A commercial property with multiple tenants generates a large document set. Each unit has its own lease, its own tenant, its own rent review dates, and its own break clauses. Across a multi-let property, this can mean dozens of leases with varying expiry dates and different covenant profiles.

Version control becomes critical. Lease extensions, rent review memos, and side letters modify the original terms. Without careful tracking, the pack may contain superseded documents that misrepresent the current position.

Completeness tracking is equally important. It is common for one or two leases to be missing from a pack that otherwise appears complete. The broker assumes everything is in order; the lender spots the gap and raises a query that delays the entire submission.

Obsidian tracks every document against the full unit schedule, flags missing or outdated items, and maintains version control across all lease documentation. Nothing is assumed to be complete until it has been checked.