By Sinead Cruise

LONDON (Reuters) - Plucky property sellers are morphing into lenders to soothe Britain's property debt famine and turn dealmaking hopes to reality, in moves that may break the banks' stranglehold on big-ticket property deals.

Aviva Investors (AV.L: Quote, Profile, Research) has thrown the issue into relief by offering debt funding to the successful bidder for a 750-800 million pound portfolio of 47 retail parks, offices and warehouses code-named "Project Ed".

The growing trend of vendor-arranged debt has sparked signs of life in Britain's listless real estate sector, flushing out buyers who fled when the boom turned to bust. Brokers believe the trend may in time coax typical lenders out of hibernation.

"If we see more big portfolios come up, and the debt markets have not loosened, we will see more of these types of stapled finance deals," said Cushman & Wakefield partner Alastair Hilton.

"This trend may even encourage them (banks) back," he said.

The competitive chase for "Ed" has surprised some experts -- especially since UK commercial property transactions plumbed their lowest depths this decade in the first quarter, with just 3.6 billion pounds of deals, CB Richard Ellis data shows.

SWEETENER

Rumours abound that Aviva Commercial Finance has offered 75 percent of the required capital to buy the portfolio for a seven-year period at 275 basis points over LIBOR. A spokeswoman for the company declined to comment on the terms.