Mera Investment Management Provides £18m facility for penthouse refurbishment in Prime Central London

25 November 2025

Mera Investment Management has completed an £18m residential refurbishment facility for a spectacular one-of-a-kind penthouse in central London.

The funding supports the refinance of a private banking loan and a facility to complete the refurbishment works to the property to the highest specification. The borrower has a strong track record, having previously exited a prime central London development for more than £60 million.

The transaction reflects Mera's continued confidence in the prime central London residential market, which continues to attract significant interest from U.S. and international investors seeking trophy assets. Recent high-profile acquisitions by prominent American buyers underscore the enduring appeal of London's ultra-prime residential sector, particularly for properties that offer both prestige and long-term value preservation.

James Fenwick, Senior Structured Finance Analyst at Mera Investment Management, commented:

"This is a truly exceptional asset—completely unique within the current market and an absolute showstopper.

“Prime central London continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience, with American buyers in particular showing sustained appetite for ultra-prime residential properties. In today's market, where traditional lenders are tightening credit standards, private capital providers like Mera are stepping up to deliver the speed, flexibility, and appetite that high street banks increasingly cannot match.”

This transaction, alongside Mera's recent £15m in funding for a 42,000 sq ft luxury self-storage development in Mayfair—as reported in The Times—takes the company's loan book past the £100 million milestone. In the past year alone, Mera has doubled its assets under management and increased its average loan size to £9 million, with a target of reaching £200m by the end of 2026.

The deal showcases Mera's proven expertise in prime London residential assets. Earlier this year, the company successfully supported the conversion of a former nursery in South Kensington into a luxury three-bedroom flat, providing an 18-month senior debt facility that covered both acquisition and refurbishment. Demonstrating Mera's flexible approach, the firm structured additional construction advances and a complementary equity loan mid-project when the borrower sought to elevate the specification, resulting in an early redemption and seamless investor exit.

Beyond prime residential, Mera has been actively diversifying across asset classes including co-living schemes, office repositioning in key regional locations such as Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and specialist sectors including self-storage. The firm recently broadened its investor base and is now exploring new international sources of private capital, particularly from U.S. investors seeking access to UK real estate opportunities.