The appraisal is the deal
Every credible development conversation starts in the same place: the appraisal. Land or purchase price, build costs, professional fees, finance costs, contingency, projected Gross Development Value, expected sale or rental income. If those numbers don’t stack against a realistic margin — typically 20%+ on profit-on-cost for a sale exit — no amount of clever financing will rescue the scheme. We’ll happily run through an appraisal with you and tell you whether it works before any lender sees it.
When it does work, the finance structure usually looks like this:
- Day 1 drawdown to complete the purchase or release equity in land you already own.
- Staged build drawdowns released against monitoring surveyor sign-off as agreed work stages complete (typically substructure, frame, weathertight, first fix, completion).
- Retained interest rolled up against the facility so you’re not making monthly payments from cash flow during the build.
- Exit by sale of the completed scheme or refinance onto a term product — agreed in concept before drawdown so it’s not a scramble at the end.
Where we add value
Development lending is a small, specialist corner of the market. There are mainstream commercial lenders who occasionally do schemes, dedicated development funders for whom it’s their entire business, and a handful of specialist lenders for specific niches (small conversions, heavy refurbishment, regional focus). Pricing varies materially across them — the same scheme can attract very different terms depending on who you take it to, and there is no published comparison.
We know which lenders are currently active, which are tightening, which sectors are out of favour, and which schemes will pass without much friction. Where appropriate we’ll also flag where the scheme could be improved before finance is sought — a more credible main contractor, a tightened build programme, a better-evidenced GDV — because lender appetite improves materially when the appraisal looks tight rather than aspirational.
How we work a development case
We start with the scheme: site, drawings, planning status, costed build programme, GDV evidence, experience. From that we map the lender shortlist and indicative terms within a few working days. Where the case stacks, we run a formal process with the strongest two or three lenders in parallel so you have a real choice. We coordinate the monitoring surveyor, the legal work, the drawdowns, and we keep you informed in plain language right through to practical completion and exit.
If the case doesn’t stack, we’ll tell you that too — early, and with reasons. Development finance is unforgiving of schemes that didn’t add up to begin with.