Two Very Different Lenders
Which of these two will lend to you is largely settled before you pick up the phone. Together is a specialist, asset-led lender that takes complex and non-standard cases, including first-time developers. Close Brothers is a mid-market bank arm that structures in-house and weights heavily on your track record.
It is your profile, not the arithmetic of the scheme, that decides which door opens. Together’s asset-led view widens who can borrow, while Close Brothers’ bank discipline rewards a developer who has delivered before and then builds the structure around the deal. Most brokers split the two that way the day the enquiry lands. When you send the same scheme to both, the answers differ on whether they will lend at all rather than on price, which is why judging them on rate alone gets you the wrong answer.
Access and Appetite
The first difference you meet is who says yes. Together leans on the asset and the exit, so complex ownership, an unusual site or a thin track record are less likely to stop it. Close Brothers looks hard at the developer behind the scheme.
Your track record matters far more to one than to the other. Close Brothers rewards a strong delivery history with sharper terms, while Together will back a first scheme a bank would pass on and charges for the risk it takes. There is no dressing a thin record up for Close Brothers. If you submit one anyway, expect the harder conversation, and when your record is the weak part of the file it alone usually decides which lender you approach first.
Deal Size and Structuring
Choose Close Brothers if your scheme sits in the mid-market. It works roughly £750,000 to £20m and structures stretch senior facilities and even joint ventures in-house. Together spreads wider, taking smaller and more unusual deals on an asset-led basis.
In-house structuring is worth more to you than it sounds. Inside that band a single Close Brothers team can shape a stretch senior line or a joint venture around a strong sponsor, keeping the whole capital stack under one roof: one set of conditions and one drawdown timetable for your cash flow to work around. When your question is whether a joint venture frees more equity than a stretch senior line would, only a lender that structures in-house can answer it properly.
What Each One Costs
What you are paying for here is access and flexibility, not just the money. Together generally prices above a mainstream bank to reflect the broader, asset-led risk it takes. Close Brothers can price competitively for a strong mid-market sponsor with a clean track record, nearer the mainstream senior market rate of about 6.5 to 9.5% a year.
You cannot have the cheapest rate and the widest access at the same time. When you pay Together’s higher price, what you are buying is a deal that closes: after a high-street bank has declined, a Together facility can still go through. That gap is doing real work rather than padding a margin. Compare total cost against certainty of funding rather than one rate against another.
Which One to Approach
Let the shape of the scheme choose. A complex, non-standard or first-time deal points to Together. A clean mid-market build with a proven sponsor, or a need for bespoke in-house structuring, points to Close Brothers.
Neither lender’s rate card tells you what it is actually doing this month. Both shift terms with capacity and market conditions, so a broker who places with each of them will know this month’s position better than any published comparison can. If you send the enquiry out, ask which one is live on your scheme type now, before the approach is built on reputation.
Together vs Close Brothers FAQs
What is the difference between Together and Close Brothers development finance?
They serve different developers. Together is an asset-led specialist lender that focuses on the security and the exit, so it will consider complex ownership, non-standard sites and first-time developers that a mainstream bank might decline. Close Brothers Property Finance is a mid-market bank arm that structures deals in-house and weights heavily on a developer’s delivery record, offering sharper terms to proven sponsors. The choice comes down to your profile and the scheme, not a headline rate.
Which is better for a first-time developer?
Together is usually the more realistic option for a first-time or non-standard developer, because its asset-led approach leans on the security and the exit rather than a long delivery history. Close Brothers looks hard at track record and tends to reward experienced sponsors, so a first scheme can be harder to place there. The trade-off is price: Together’s broader access typically costs more than the terms a proven developer would secure at Close Brothers.
How big a scheme does Close Brothers fund?
Close Brothers Property Finance works largely in the mid-market, roughly £750,000 to £20m, and one of its strengths is structuring deals in-house, including stretch senior facilities and joint ventures. That means a single team can shape the capital stack around a strong sponsor. Together is less about a fixed band and more about the asset, so it will take smaller and more unusual deals on their merits.
Is Together more expensive than Close Brothers?
Generally, yes, for a comparable scheme, because Together prices for the broader, asset-led risk it takes on deals other lenders decline. A strong mid-market sponsor at Close Brothers can pay closer to the mainstream senior market rate, currently around 6.5 to 9.5% a year on development finance. The right way to compare is total cost against certainty of funding: Together’s higher price can be worth it if it backs a deal a cheaper lender would refuse.
How we compared Together and Close Brothers development finance
What we covered. We compare two contrasting development finance lenders in 2026: Together, an asset-led specialist, and Close Brothers Property Finance, a mid-market bank arm. We look at access, deal size, in-house structuring and pricing. We do not rely on comparison-site summaries.
Data sources. Deal-size, structuring and appetite points were checked against primary sources in July 2026, including each lender’s development finance pages and the assessment in our best development finance lenders roundup.
How we handle gaps. Together does not publish standard development rates, so we describe its pricing qualitatively rather than inventing a figure, and we give the senior market range as context. Where data is thin, we say so.
Update cadence. We re-verify this page at least monthly, and whenever a lender changes criteria or pricing. 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. Development finance to a limited company or investor is generally unregulated lending, so compare facilities and read the terms before you sign.