Battersea Power Station has become one of the most recognisable names in London property marketing overseas, particularly across Southeast Asia, where the scheme was heavily promoted to Malaysian, Singaporean and Hong Kong investors from its earliest phases onward. For many international buyers, it was their first exposure to UK off-plan investment, and for a significant number it remains the only UK property they own.
Speak to GMG about releasing equity from your UK property. Donald Klip, Co-Founder and CIO, Global Mortgage Group.
[email protected] | +65 9773 0273 | www.gmg.asia
The development's scale and phased delivery over more than a decade means buyers across different phases hold very different positions. Someone who exchanged on an early phase years before completion faces an entirely different financing question from a buyer purchasing a completed resale unit today, and the two should not be treated as the same transaction.
The Off-Plan Exchange-to-Completion Gap
The single most consequential financing issue for off-plan buyers at Battersea, and at large phased schemes generally, is the gap between exchange and completion. A buyer who exchanged contracts years ago committed to a price, and paid a deposit, based on their circumstances and the lending environment at that time. By the time the unit is ready and completion is called, their income, their residency status, sterling's exchange rate, and the mortgage market itself may all have shifted materially.
This creates a recurring and genuinely stressful scenario: a buyer contractually committed to complete, facing a developer deadline measured in weeks, discovering that the mortgage they assumed would be available is not, or is available only at a materially lower loan amount than expected. Bridging finance exists precisely for this gap, allowing the buyer to complete on time and then refinance onto a longer-term facility once the immediate deadline has passed.
"The off-plan buyer's problem is that they made a decision years ago and the completion notice arrives against today's lending market. Nobody plans for that gap at the point of exchange, because at exchange it feels a long way off. It never is."
- Donald Klip, Co-Founder and CIO, Global Mortgage Group
New-Build Valuation and Lender Appetite
Buyers should also understand that a lender's valuation at completion is an independent assessment, and will not automatically match the price agreed at exchange. Where a valuation comes in below the contracted price, the buyer must fund the shortfall from their own resources, since the lender will advance against the valuation rather than the purchase price. This is a general feature of off-plan purchasing rather than anything specific to this scheme, but it bites hardest at large developments where many units complete in the same window.
Some lenders also apply exposure limits to individual developments, restricting how many units in a single scheme they will lend against. For a buyer at a very large development, this can narrow the available lender pool in ways that are not obvious until an application is already underway.
Questions for a Battersea Power Station Buyer
- Which phase, and how long between exchange and the expected completion date
- Has income, residency or currency position changed materially since exchange
- Is bridging pre-arranged in case the completion mortgage falls short or falls through
- Has the lender confirmed they have appetite for this specific development
About Global Mortgage Group
Global Mortgage Group (GMG) is a Singapore-headquartered cross-border real estate finance firm operating across 23+ jurisdictions, specialising in equity release, bridging loans and structured property finance for international property owners. GMG works with private clients, family offices and their advisers to unlock capital held in prime residential real estate.
Donald Klip, Co-Founder and CIO
[email protected] | +65 9773 0273 | www.gmg.asia
This is part of GMG's Unlocked in the UK development guide series. The next guide covers Nine Elms and the wider Vauxhall regeneration corridor.
