Bromley Development Finance: 2 Unit Residential Scheme at 1 Farnborough Way Wins Consent
Prior approval granted for a Class MA office to residential conversion at 1 Farnborough Way, Orpington. What the funding stack could look like.
Another small residential scheme has cleared planning in the borough, and it is exactly the sort of project our desk gets asked to fund most weeks. Application 26/01077/NOT at 1 Farnborough Way, Orpington, BR6 7DH is now approved, according to the London Borough of Bromley planning register (Idox).
The application: scheme, units, and status
The proposal, as recorded on the London Borough of Bromley planning register (Idox), is a change of use of the ground and first floor from Class E (Commercial, Business and Service) to Use Class C3 (Dwellinghouses) to form 1 x 2 bedroom dwelling under Class MA, Part 3, Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015 (as amended). It ran as a 56 day application for prior approval covering transport and highways impacts, contamination risks, flood risk, noise impacts, character or sustainability of a conservation area, provision of natural light to habitable rooms, impact on an area of general or heavy industry, impact of loss of services provided by a registered nursery or a health centre, and fire safety impacts.
The register lists 2 units proposed on the scheme, per the London Borough of Bromley planning register (Idox), with the use class recorded as residential on the same source. The application was received on 18/03/2026, again per the London Borough of Bromley planning register (Idox), so consent has landed within roughly five months of submission.
Where it sits in the Bromley pipeline
Class MA conversions of this scale are a steady feature of the Orpington and wider borough pipeline. Small commercial parades with surplus ground and first floor space are being recycled into homes, and the 56 day prior approval route keeps timelines short and planning risk low. Our estimate puts the gross development value at around £1,000,000, a Construction Capital estimate derived from the London Borough of Bromley planning register (Idox) entry, which places this firmly in the small scheme bracket that specialist commercial lenders and challenger banks compete hardest for.
The finance angle
A consented Class MA conversion at this size typically suits one of three structures. A light refurbishment bridge from a bridging specialist if the works are cosmetic and services are already in place. A small development facility from a specialist commercial lender if the conversion involves structural work or a full fit out. Or a purchase bridge with a works allowance from a challenger bank where the sponsor is buying the building with consent already attached. On a circa £1,000,000 GDV, day one leverage against the commercial value plus staged drawdowns against the works is the usual shape.
The exit matters as much as the entry. Sponsors intending to retain the units should be pricing term debt or a development exit product now, not at practical completion. We cover the funding routes for schemes like this on our Bromley development finance page, including typical leverage and pricing for conversions in the borough.
Our read
With consent granted and the prior approval conditions defined, the sponsor's job is speed: fixed build costs, a monitoring surveyor lined up, and two funding terms in hand before contracts are exchanged. On schemes this size, preparation is usually the difference between a four week completion and a twelve week one.