Next Route Finance

07/08/2025

The Monetary Policy Committee voted by a majority of 5-4 to cut interest rates to 4%.

Find out more in our https://b-o-e.uk/mpr-aug-2025

30/10/2024

So many people think a property DEVELOPMENT FINANCE LOAN is the same as a BRIDGE?

In short, it’s not.

It’s more complex and can therefore lead to overspending if you’re not properly informed!

Development finance is paid out in STAGES - it can help towards the purchase and 100% build costs (in arrears) whereas bridging finance is a straight loan.

Here’s our tips & tricks for seeking the best terms…

24/09/2024

Is there such a thing as MAX capacity?

Property developers are regularly putting in more offers than they could physically cope with (if they were all accepted).

So, when is this capacity reached:

🤔 Perhaps when your A+L is weak?
🤔 Liquidity issues?
🤔 If you've structured the funding incorrectly?

We’re always dubious of developers growing TOO quickly!

But experienced developers need to learn how to take on MULTIPLE projects at a time.

This can easily be done WITHOUT being ‘over-leveraged’

It's often just lack of knowledge on how the funding really works…

We share various tips & insights in our weekly newsletter if you want to increase your knowledge and learn more - here’s the link: tinyurl.com/yt285pun

Never let a case of LACK OF FUNDS be your roadblock 🚧

*There's always another route.

06/08/2024

💰 SAVE THOUSANDS of pounds on your next property development project!

How?

We often receive new enquiries from developers seeking a SECOND OPINION from us.

Why?

Because there comes a time when developers will ‘OUTGROW’ their current broker.

Perhaps these brokers are residential mortgage brokers or deal with bridging on the lower loan amounts or focus on the BRR model? They are often not niche in what we specifically do…

We ONLY arrange bridging & development finance EXCLUSIVELY for property developers and housebuilders 🏘️

👉🏼 Projects > £500K, where the conversion project or new build scheme requires drawdown payments

👉🏼 The cost of works equate to > 50% of the purchase price

👉🏼 The overall structure needs to be reviewed looking at the blended rate

👉🏼 More funding is required over the senior loan amount

👉🏼 A larger day 1 amount is required to reduce the deposit amount and increase the developer’s overall return on their own equity input

👉🏼 The list goes on…

The more niche or specialist someone is in a subject matter, the better placed they are to solve problems.

So choose a broker that SPECIALISES in what you need because they could save you money 🥳

03/05/2024

When you hear your finance broker say “whole of market”, you may be thinking quite literally…

It’s the WHOLE market - EVERY available lender & ALL their products and services.

Not exactly! It can be misleading 🤨

The term appears to have originated years ago from the regulated market so when you’re buying or remortgaging your own home for example, then you may have heard your residential mortgage broker say they have access to ‘whole of market’.

What that actually means...

The broker has access to a ‘well rounded representation of the market’ so you may get a broker who uses a limited number of lenders but as long as they have say one with the LOWEST cost of funds on the market through to one which has the HIGHEST, they can still proudly say they have access to 'Whole of Market' 🏛️

Our motto is always to be as transparent as we can which is why we share information like this to educate people on what really happens behind the scenes in the finance world!

*Another reason we love specialists over generalist but that’s a different post*

By sticking to our niche, we always have an update on the FULL ‘whole’ market position... who’s lending, their funding appetite and the current cost of funds etc.

To perform OUR version of ‘searching the market’, we have developed our own internal system by essentially staying in touch with our lenders across the full range from the high streets (cheapest money) to our alternative lenders (more bespoke, higher cost of funds but better leverage).

As a secondary check, we now also use a third party ‘sourcing system’ which has been newly developed for the unregulated space of bridging and property development finance which includes, at the moment, over 80 lenders noted as ‘whole of market’.

If you’re a developer who wants to stay in the loop about the current lending market, you're in luck! We now offer a FREE monthly PDF detailing these insights just let us know if you want a copy and we’ll send it across 📝

15/01/2024

One of our company goals for 2024 is to help more property developers and housebuilders 'LEVEL UP' 📈

🌐 Given the governments aim to build 300,000 homes a year, you would think this ties in nicely with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)…

However it looks the housing secretary, Michael Gove will now be 'relaxing' the housing targets for local authorities in England which could mean far fewer homes being built amid a housing crisis.

No surprise developers are worried with this news 😧

In summary, it looks like the plans will:

🏠 give councils far more freedom to set lower housing targets (the targets would become advisory rather than binding) and

🏠 allow authorities to allocate less land to future development if local officials can argue that more development would damage the character of an area or require building on greenbelt land

Many developers think obtaining funding is a problem - that’s a walk in the park compared to planning!

Could this see housebuilding collapse in some areas?

📰 Article: https://www.ft.com/content/1f0adb36-612d-4a34-bb0f-1643a841c417

UK levelling up secretary says local authorities will be given three months to deliver property plans or face losing planning powers

18/08/2022

Not sure if is still a thing but it is today 🤪 *Better with the SOUND ON this one 🔊

Finding a good networking event SPECIFICALLY for property developers (and their wider circle) down in the Devon can be struggle city sometimes!

So when we kindly got asked to sponsor and attend The Property Development Forum

We said “hell yeah” 👏🏼🥰

Tickets still available for this evening if you interested in - ‘place to network, learn and create opportunities’

🎥 Here’s our take 👀

18/08/2021

It was all going so well… 😉



(Link to full video in the comments)

25/03/2020

UPDATE

Since the Chancellor's announcement last week, internal teams have been working tirelessly to bring the new Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), which is now available through accredited lenders. We have been informed by numerous lenders who have now defined processes and clarity on the scheme’s details, specifications and eligibility.

To date, we have been liaising with participating lenders on the scheme details and must highlight some key findings:

1. There are currently 40 accredited lenders which includes high street banks such as Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, RBS and Santander.

2. Decision-making on whether a business is eligible for CBILS is fully delegated to the accredited lenders.

3. Lenders are underwriting any finance applications as they would have previously; were it not for the current pandemic the lender believes the provision of finance will enable the business to trade out of any short-to-medium term difficulty i.e. if you were not able to access high street funding previously it will be unlikely you will be able to do so now even with the scheme in place.

4. If the lender can offer finance on normal commercial terms without the need to make use of the scheme, they will do so.

5. Where the small business has a sound borrowing proposal but insufficient security, the lender will consider the business for support via the scheme.

6. Loans in the scheme are limited to a maximum of 25% of 2019 turnover or double the annual wage bill, whichever is greater.

7. CBILS supports a wide range of business finance products, including term loans, overdrafts, invoice finance and asset finance.

8. CBILS can provide facilities of up to £5m for smaller businesses across the UK who are experiencing lost or deferred revenues, leading to disruptions to their cashflow.

9. Repayment terms are up to six years term loans and asset finance facilities (there are some lenders provided 12 months capital repayment holidays too). For overdrafts and invoice finance facilities, terms will be up to three years.

10. The business must be UK-based in its business activity, with annual turnover of no more than £45m.

11. As with any other commercial transaction, the borrower is always 100% liable for repayment of the facility supported by CBILS.

12. Similar to the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG), the CBILS guarantee is to the lender and not the business.

**The scheme is still a loan and even though there are incentives such as interest free for 12 months or even capital repayment holidays, there will likely to be debentures, personal guarantees and tangible security attached to the loan conditions. Please review terms as you would a normal commercial loan, read the small print and ask questions where you are unsure**

We have access to accredited lenders and an excellent network of finance professionals so can answers any questions you may have.

Please keep safe and remain to stay home where you can!

Link to the British Business Bank website summarising the terms and accredited lenders available: https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/ourpartners/coronavirus-business-interruption-loan-scheme-cbils

20/02/2020

Thank you to the team at Bridging & Commercial magazine for featuring us in their ‘35 under 35’ influential people in the property/finance world.

Power list! Wow, we are honoured.