Best Development Finance Lenders UK (2026): Rates and LTV Compared

Best Development Finance Lenders UK at a Glance

We reviewed eight development finance lenders active in the UK market in 2026. The comparison covers ground-up residential development, heavy refurbishment, commercial conversion, and mixed-use projects.

The lenders differ significantly on minimum loan size, LTC and LTGDV limits, track record requirements, and pricing. There is no single best lender across all project types — which lender you approach depends on your project size, your track record, and how much leverage you need.

Shawbrook Bank is our top pick for experienced residential developers: up to 85% LTC and 65% LTGDV, loans of £1m to £30m, and 36-month terms.

Octopus Real Estate is the strongest choice for institutional-scale residential development and PBSA, with loans of £5m to £100m.

Roma Finance is the most accessible option for smaller schemes — minimum £100,000, up to 6 dwellings — making it relevant if you are developing at a community scale.

Maslow Capital is the leverage leader: 90% LTC and 70% LTGDV — the highest published ratios in this comparison. If you need to maximise gearing, Maslow is the conversation to have.

Development Finance Lenders Compared

LTC (Loan to Cost) and LTGDV (Loan to Gross Development Value) are the two primary leverage metrics. LTC determines how much of the total project cost the lender will fund.

If LTC is 85% and your project costs £2 million, the lender advances up to £1.7 million.

LTGDV determines the advance as a percentage of the end value — if LTGDV is 65% and the GDV is £3 million, the lender will not advance more than £1.95 million, regardless of what the LTC calculation permits.

Both constraints operate simultaneously. A lender offering 85% LTC and 65% LTGDV will advance the lower of the two calculations. This matters most when your project cost is high relative to the GDV.

If you are developing a scheme with thin margins or heavy infrastructure costs, the LTGDV cap may be more binding than the LTC cap. We found this distinction poorly understood by developers approaching their first development finance facility.

Arrangement fees across the eight lenders typically run from 1.5% to 2% of the facility amount. Interest is usually charged on drawn funds — so the interest cost depends on the drawdown schedule rather than the total loan amount.

Most lenders offer interest roll-up, where interest is added to the loan rather than paid monthly, preserving your cash flow during the build phase. Some lenders charge an exit fee (usually 1%) on redemption — we note this in the individual lender sections below.

Our Top Picks: Best Development Finance Lenders

Our rankings are not a strict league table — the right lender depends on your project size, your track record, your LTC requirement, and your exit route.

We have positioned each lender for the scenario where it offers the strongest combination of rate, leverage, and access. If you have a strong track record and a well-structured scheme in the £1–£10 million range, approach Shawbrook first.

If you are working on your first scheme of six dwellings, approach Roma Finance and Hilltop Credit Partners before the institutional lenders.

Maslow Capital is the right conversation if you need leverage above 80% LTC and are willing to pay a premium for it.

Hilltop Credit Partners is particularly relevant if your scheme is 1–15 units and institutional lenders set minimums too high for your project size.

We did not find a single lender that was consistently best across all criteria.

The correct approach for most developers is to run the project past two or three lenders simultaneously — or through a specialist development finance broker who can run the numbers across the market without triggering multiple credit searches.

Shawbrook: Development Finance Lender for Experienced Developers

Shawbrook Bank offers development finance from £1,000,000 to £30,000,000 at up to 85% LTC and 65% LTGDV — rising to 70% LTGDV for refurbishment projects. Terms run up to 36 months.

Shawbrook’s primary appetite is for ground-up new builds, commercial conversions, and heavy refurbishments. It has a strong preference for experienced developers with completed schemes on their track record.

Full planning permission must be in place before day-one funds are released. Speculative land purchases without extant planning permission are not funded.

We found Shawbrook’s credit team genuinely engaged with complex cases — it will consider unusual site types and non-standard construction methods provided your track record is there and the exit is credible.

If you are an experienced residential developer working on schemes of £1m or more with full planning, Shawbrook is the strongest institutional lender in this comparison on LTC. The combination of 85% LTC and the 36-month term gives meaningful headroom for projects with extended build programmes.

Octopus Real Estate: Development Finance Lender for Large Schemes

Octopus Real Estate provides development finance from £5,000,000 to £100,000,000 at up to 85% LTC and 65% LTGDV, with terms running 12–36 months.

It specialises in large-scale residential, PBSA, and build-to-rent. The institutional scale of the Octopus Group and its sector expertise in housing with a social purpose make it the default institutional development lender for schemes above the £10 million threshold.

If you are a developer working at smaller scales, the £5 million minimum makes Octopus inaccessible — Roma Finance and Hilltop Credit Partners serve the sub-£5m market more effectively.

We found Octopus’s development finance team well-regarded for managing complex delivery timelines and multi-phase projects. If your project requires draw-down in tranches across a multi-year programme, Octopus has the operational capability to manage structured drawdowns effectively.

Aldermore: Development Finance Rates and Eligibility

Aldermore offers development finance from £1,000,000 to £50,000,000 at up to 65% LTGDV, with terms structured flexibly around the project schedule.

Aldermore is FCA-regulated and applies rigorous underwriting, but is positioned for experienced developers who may not yet have the scale or track record for Shawbrook’s requirements.

If you have an established profile and have been declined by mainstream high-street banks, Aldermore is often the first conversation — it will consider shorter trading histories and less conventional project structures while maintaining institutional standards.

The maximum LTGDV of 65% is lower than Shawbrook and Maslow, which limits its relevance if you are seeking maximum leverage.

Aldermore’s commercial property lending team is well-regarded for responsiveness on complex cases. For commercial conversions to residential or mixed-use developments, Aldermore’s combination of specialist banking status and flexible underwriting makes it a strong option.

Close Brothers: Flexible Development Finance Lender

Close Brothers Property Finance offers development finance structured around your specific project needs. It operates in the mid-market range — schemes from approximately £750,000 to £20,000,000.

Close Brothers is known for flexible structuring capability, including stretch senior facilities and JV structures that institutional lenders typically avoid.

We found Close Brothers most relevant if you need something more structurally flexible than a standard senior development facility — for example, where a standard LTC limit does not give enough headroom and a stretch senior component is needed to make the numbers work.

Close Brothers can structure the full debt stack in-house rather than requiring you to find a separate mezzanine lender.

Close Brothers places a high weighting on developer track record and site quality. If you are working on your first or second scheme, Close Brothers is unlikely to be the right starting point.

For experienced developers needing a flexible partner on a structurally complex project, it is one of the stronger options in the market.

Together: Development Finance Lender for Complex Cases

Together Commercial Finance specialises in non-standard development cases — unusual property types, complex ownership structures, developers with shorter track records, and projects that mainstream lenders decline on structural grounds rather than project quality.

Together will lend where others will not, but the premium for that flexibility is reflected in the rate.

Together’s development finance team takes an asset-led view of the project rather than purely underwriting the developer’s track record. This makes it relevant if you have strong projects but limited track record — particularly first-time developers with solid professional backgrounds funding their first scheme.

The cost is higher than Shawbrook or Aldermore, but the access is broader.

We found Together most useful as a first mover for developers building their track record. If you complete one or two schemes through Together, the track record you build may open doors with lower-cost institutional lenders for future projects.

Maslow Capital: Development Finance Lender at 90% LTC

Maslow Capital offers development finance at up to 90% LTC and 70% LTGDV — the highest published leverage ratios in this comparison.

If you need to maximise gearing and are willing to pay a premium for the additional leverage, Maslow is the relevant conversation. The 90% LTC means Maslow will fund nine-tenths of the total project cost, which significantly reduces your equity requirement.

The higher leverage comes at a higher cost. Maslow’s rates reflect the additional risk of higher LTC exposure, and the arrangement fee is typically at the upper end of the market range.

Before approaching Maslow, we recommend modelling the full cost including the premium over lower-LTC lenders and comparing it against the benefit of reduced equity deployment.

Maslow operates typically on schemes with a GDV of £5 million or more. For smaller schemes, the economics of Maslow’s pricing may not stack against lower-cost alternatives even at the higher leverage level.

Hilltop Credit Partners: Development Finance Lender for Smaller Schemes

Hilltop Credit Partners is one of the development finance lenders most willing to engage at the smaller end of the market — schemes from approximately £250,000 to £5,000,000 GDV, covering 1 to 15 dwellings.

If you are developing smaller residential schemes and are above the micro-developer threshold but below the minimum that Shawbrook, Octopus, or Close Brothers require, Hilltop is the most relevant institutional lender for your project.

Hilltop’s credit team is known for speed — decisions on well-packaged applications typically come within 48 to 72 hours. If you are working to a tight acquisition timeline, Hilltop’s responsiveness is a genuine operational advantage.

We found Hilltop Credit Partners particularly well-suited to developers with one or two completed schemes who are stepping up from the micro-developer level. It provides institutional-grade development finance at a project scale that most institutional lenders will not engage with.

Roma Finance: Most Accessible Development Finance Lender

Roma Finance is the most accessible development finance lender in this comparison — minimum loan of £100,000, schemes of up to 6 dwellings, and a more flexible approach to developer track record than the institutional lenders.

If you are funding your first or second scheme at the community scale, Roma is often the first viable institutional lender to approach.

Roma’s credit criteria are structured around the scheme quality and the site rather than requiring an extensive track record. For well-located residential developments with strong planning and a credible developer, Roma’s team will engage early and provide indicative terms quickly.

The maximum loan size and scheme restriction mean Roma is not a long-term lender as your programmes grow. But for the critical first scheme — where institutional access is needed but institutional minimum sizes are too high — Roma Finance fills a genuine gap in the market.

What Development Finance Really Costs

Development finance is typically priced as a monthly or annual interest rate on the drawn balance, plus an arrangement fee at the start and sometimes an exit fee at redemption.

Interest is usually rolled up and added to the loan rather than paid monthly. This preserves your cash flow during the build phase but means the interest compounds over the loan term — you are paying interest on a growing balance.

On a worked example: £2,000,000 facility, 18-month term, 8.5% interest per year, 2% arrangement fee, interest roll-up. Arrangement fee: £40,000.

Approximate interest (assuming phased drawdown averaging £1.5m drawn over 18 months): £191,250. Total charges: approximately £231,250 — roughly 11.6% of the facility amount.

Add professional costs — surveyor, solicitor, monitoring surveyor — typically £15,000–£30,000 per scheme. The true all-in cost of an 18-month development facility is often 12–15% of the facility amount.

We recommend modelling the total cost — including interest roll-up, arrangement fee, exit fee where applicable, and professional costs — before committing to any facility.

A lender quoting 0.7% per month with a 2% arrangement fee and 1% exit fee may cost more in total than a lender quoting 0.85%/month with no exit fee, depending on the term and drawdown profile.

Eligibility: What Lenders Look For

Track record is the single most important underwriting variable for most institutional development finance lenders. Shawbrook, Octopus, Close Brothers, and Maslow all require evidence of completed development schemes before they will engage with you.

The specific requirement varies — Shawbrook typically wants at least two to three completed ground-up schemes. But the principle is consistent: the lender is not underwriting only the scheme, they are underwriting your ability to deliver it.

Planning status is the second critical factor. Most institutional lenders will not release day-one funds for land acquisition without extant full planning permission in place.

Conditional planning or outline planning is not sufficient. Some specialist lenders will bridge to planning on strong site acquisitions, but that is a different product not covered here.

Exit route clarity is the third variable. Lenders want to know, before advancing funds, how and when the loan will be repaid.

For residential developments, the typical exit is sales of completed units. For commercial developments, the exit is typically refinance onto a commercial mortgage or sale of the completed asset to an institutional buyer.

If your exit route is dependent on market conditions — for example, selling units in a weak market — lenders will stress-test the sales values against comparable evidence. Make sure your business case covers this scenario before you present it.

How to Choose the Right Development Finance Lender

The decision framework starts with project size. If your scheme has a GDV below £2 million, your options are Roma Finance, Hilltop Credit Partners, and Together. Between £2 million and £10 million GDV, the full range of lenders becomes available.

Above £10 million, Octopus and Maslow offer the most competitive terms for large-scale development.

Your track record determines which lenders will engage with you as the developer. If you are a first-time developer, start with Roma Finance or Hilltop Credit Partners — both will engage with first schemes.

After one or two completed projects, Aldermore and Together become viable. After three or more completed schemes, Shawbrook, Close Brothers, and Maslow are the right conversations.

We strongly recommend using an independent development finance broker for all but the simplest first schemes. The development finance market is complex, terms are negotiable, and lenders change their appetite frequently.

A broker who works daily with the lenders on this list can tell you which lenders are currently open for your project type, can package the case to maximise the terms you receive, and can manage the process efficiently without you running multiple lender conversations simultaneously.