How LLP Structure Affects Your Loan Options
Your LLP can borrow in its own name, which puts you in a stronger spot than an ordinary partnership. It’s a separate legal entity under the LLP Act 2000, it files accounts at Companies House, and we found lenders read it much like a company.
Your LLP’s company-like standing is why more lenders say yes. Funding Circle, which dropped ordinary partnerships in February 2026, still lends to your LLP, and the banks treat it as a corporate borrower.
That’s the borrowing edge the LLP structure buys you.
Lenders still read your LLP’s business credit file and each member’s personal file before they price your application. The structure sets the liability; the files set the rate.
Personal Guarantees: What LLP Members Need to Know
Your limited liability is only as solid as the guarantees you sign. Lenders almost always ask designated members to give a personal guarantee, and that’s what reaches past the LLP to your personal credit file and your home.
Signing a guarantee removes the protection you set the LLP up to get. If the LLP defaults, the lender can pursue you personally for the guaranteed amount, including your savings and, in some cases, your home.
That’s the protection you quietly hand back.
Picture your accountant emailing you the guarantee wording to read before you sign at month-end.
Personal guarantee insurance can cap the exposure, covering 60 to 80% of the sum for 1.5 to 5% of it a year. We’d weigh it up on any guarantee that would hurt your household if called.
What Lenders Need from an LLP
Lenders want two years of your LLP’s filed accounts as the core financial test, the same bar a limited company faces. Specialist lenders work from six months of bank statements and Open Banking instead.
Your LLP’s business credit file sits alongside the members’ personal files. The business score (0 to 100 at Experian or Creditsafe) and each member’s personal credit file both feed the decision.
On-time accounts filing at Companies House is the cheapest signal you can send, and we’d never miss the deadline. A late filing flags on your business credit file for every lender to see.
That’s the file that sets your rate.
Picture your accountant uploading two years of LLP accounts at year-end while the lender waits on the decision.
Which Lenders Accept LLPs
Your LLP has the widest lender choice of any partnership type. Funding Circle lends to LLPs from 6.9% APR on £10,000 to £750,000, where it now turns ordinary partnerships away.
iwoca lends to your LLP too, from £1,000 to £1 million, with a 49% representative APR and a decision inside 24 hours. The high-street banks lend to LLPs with two years of accounts, no arrangement fee on their small business loans, and a hard look at your credit file.
Larger borrowing can run through the Growth Guarantee Scheme, up to £2 million to March 2030, though your LLP stays 100% liable and the scheme can’t take a member’s home as security.
That’s the widest menu you’ll get as a partnership.
What You Need to Apply
You’ll need your LLP registration number, two years of filed accounts, the members’ agreement, three to six months of bank statements, and ID plus a credit check for each member.
Your members’ agreement does real work here. Lenders read it to see who can sign for the LLP, how profits are split, and who they’ll ask to guarantee the facility.
You’ll see each designated member’s personal credit file checked, because the guarantee makes them personally liable. One weak file can lift your rate or stall the application.
Picture your accountant chasing the lender on a Friday while the members wait on the funds. That’s the paperwork standing between you and the money.
Business Loans for LLPs FAQs
Can an LLP get the same loans as a limited company?
Broadly yes. Because an LLP is a body corporate that files accounts at Companies House, lenders treat it much like a limited company. It can apply to Funding Circle (from 6.9% APR), iwoca, the high-street banks and the Growth Guarantee Scheme on similar terms. The main practical difference is that lenders rely on personal guarantees from members to bring members’ personal assets into play.
Does a personal guarantee cancel out an LLP’s limited liability?
In effect, for the guaranteed debt, yes. An LLP normally shields members from the partnership’s debts, but a personal guarantee is a separate personal promise to repay. If the LLP defaults, the lender can pursue the guaranteeing member’s personal assets up to the guaranteed amount, which sidesteps the limited-liability protection for that specific facility.
Is lending to an LLP regulated by the FCA?
No. Because an LLP is a body corporate, lending to it is outside the FCA consumer-credit perimeter under Article 60C of the Regulated Activities Order, regardless of the amount borrowed. Only sole traders and small partnerships of three or fewer partners borrowing £25,000 or less are regulated. Compare offers carefully, because the due diligence sits with you.
Which members have to sign for the loan?
Lenders usually require the designated members to sign the loan agreement and to give personal guarantees, as they carry the LLP’s statutory responsibilities. Depending on the size of the facility and each member’s stake, a lender may ask all members above a set ownership threshold to guarantee. The members’ agreement and the lender’s terms set out exactly who is required.
How we reviewed LLP loans
What we covered. We looked at how UK LLPs borrow in 2026: how the LLP structure affects borrowing, the role of member personal guarantees, what lenders need, and which lenders accept LLPs. We do not rely on comparison-site summaries or aggregator data.
Data sources. Eligibility, rates and rules were checked against primary sources in June 2026, including Funding Circle, iwoca, the British Business Bank Growth Guarantee Scheme and Start Up Loans, the FCA Regulated Activities Order, and the Bank of England base rate of 3.75%.
How we handle gaps. Where a rule or rate changes, we verify it against the provider or the official source rather than carry an older figure forward.
Update cadence. We re-verify this page at least monthly, and whenever a lender or scheme changes eligibility or terms. The verification date reflects the most recent full review. Some links on this page are affiliate links, see our editorial policy.
Regulatory note. This page is editorial content, not regulated financial advice. Lending to an LLP sits outside the FCA consumer-credit perimeter, and credit is subject to status and approval. Compare offers directly with providers before you apply.