Our lending business

We have operated a large-scale and successful lending business since we started trading almost a decade ago. This is a significant and important part of our group’s activities. The scale of our lending business is very important – it has not only enabled us to build a strong reputation with borrowers looking for a loan, but it means that our lending business is spread across many hundreds of borrowers at all times.

The majority of our lending business comprises short- and medium-term property lending. We also make loans to other companies to fund part of the costs of projects that they are undertaking, for example the construction of properties for use in their own business.

Short- and medium-term property lending

We provide loans to professional property developers and experienced landlords for quite short duration, typically between 3 and 24 months. Our loans are secured against residential property, commercial property, properties being developed or properties owned by landlords. They are often a “bridging loan” – a loan that is taken out pending the arrangement of a larger or longer-term loan. A bridging loan can allow the owner of a property to acquire a new property before having sold one they currently own. Or it can enable a developer to act quickly to acquire a property. The common-sense approach taken by our lending business means we are often able to lend where other lenders may not be able to structure a deal.

Since 2010, we have lent and had repaid more than £1.5 billion across more than 1,200 loans to property professionals.

Construction financing

Owners of land and property often seek financing to help fund some of the costs of constructing property from which they will conduct their business. Loans provided during this phase of a project are typically lent in stages, with more money advanced as the property is built. These loans are often secured against the borrowing business itself and the property it is helping to build. Opportunities also exist in sectors that we know well to acquire sites once planning permission is in place, and to develop real estate like schools, care homes and retirement villages.

We provide financing to companies that are constructing healthcare facilities, including retirement communities, private hospitals and care homes, on land that the companies own or lease. We also provide loans to companies that are constructing renewable energy sites.

These loans are repaid once the building phase is complete, either through external financing by a bank or through the sale of the site. In the case of some sites, instead of having our loan repaid, we sometimes choose to acquire the completed site or property development company itself to own and operate in for the long term.