The knowledge behind a clean exit
Guides written the way an underwriter thinks: what the ratios mean, what the valuer will do, which lenders fund what, and where deals actually go wrong between practical completion and redemption.
Everything here is about unregulated commercial lending on development schemes, written and reviewed by our editorial team and kept current as lender appetite moves. Definitions first, then the comparisons, processes and cost mechanics that decide whether an exit funds cleanly or expensively.
Development exit finance explained: a working guide for developers
Development exit finance is the bridge that clears a development facility once a scheme is finished but still selling. This guide explains what it is by following a single illustrative sc...
Read the guide → DefinitionsGDV explained for developers: how gross development value is set
Every developer quotes a GDV, but the number that counts is the one a valuer signs. This guide walks through how gross development value is actually built, where developer estimates and v...
Read the guide → DefinitionsNet development value vs GDV: the difference and why lenders use NDV
Net development value and gross development value describe the same finished scheme, one before the costs of sale and one after. This guide sets the two figures side by side, shows what c...
Read the guide → DefinitionsLoan to GDV and LTV explained: the ratios that size your exit loan
Loan to GDV, loan to value, loan to cost and day-one LTV are four different ways of measuring the same loan, and mixing them up is how developers misread a quote. This guide sets all four...
Read the guide → ComparisonsWind and watertight vs practical completion: the difference for finance
Wind and watertight and practical completion are two different points in a build, and lenders treat them as two different risks. This guide draws the line between a sealed shell and a fin...
Read the guide → ComparisonsSelling vs refinancing a completed development: running the numbers
At practical completion a developer holds finished units and a maturing development loan, and has to decide whether to sell the scheme or keep it and refinance. This guide runs that decis...
Read the guide → ProcessPractical completion checklist: what developers need signed off
Reaching practical completion is one thing; having the paperwork that proves it is another. This guide sets out the document checklist a developer works through at completion, names who s...
Read the guide → ProcessDevelopment exit loan criteria: what lenders check before terms
An underwriter does not approve a development exit loan on a single number. The file is read in four passes: is the scheme finished, what is it worth, who is behind it, and how does the l...
Read the guide → ProcessExit strategies for property developers: choosing before you build
The exit is the part of a scheme that pays you, yet most developers pick it last, once the units are built and the market decides for them. This guide treats the exit as an appraisal-stag...
Read the guide → ProcessStalled development rescue finance: restarting a stuck scheme
A stalled development is rarely one problem. Money, contractor, planning and sales can each halt a build, and each failure points to a different fix. This guide works the way a rescue sho...
Read the guide → ProcessFunding your first development project: what lenders will and will not accept
Funding your first development project is less about finding a lender who says yes and more about building a case that answers the questions a track record would normally settle. This gui...
Read the guide → CostsDevelopment exit finance interest rates: what drives your price
The interest rate on a development exit bridge is not one number, it is a band, and where your scheme lands inside it is decided by a short list of things you can influence. This guide ta...
Read the guide → LendersDevelopment exit finance lenders: who funds exits in the UK
Development exit finance is provided by a fairly small group of specialist banks, bridging lenders and development debt funds, each with its own view on scheme type, location, leverage an...
Read the guide → StructuresCommercial development finance: funding non-residential schemes
Commercial development finance funds the construction of non-residential buildings, and it is underwritten on a different logic to housing. Pre-lets, tenant covenant and investment yield...
Read the guide → StructuresUsing an SPV for development finance: setup, lending and the exit
Most development schemes are borrowed in the name of a company set up for that scheme alone, not in a developer's own name. This guide follows a special purpose vehicle through the whole...
Read the guide → StructuresNo-deposit and 100 percent development finance: what is actually available
Almost every developer who searches for 100 percent development finance is really asking one question: can I build this scheme without putting my own cash in. The honest answer is sometim...
Read the guide → StructuresJoint venture development funding: how JV deals are structured
A joint venture funder can put in the money a developer does not have, in return for a slice of the profit. This guide reads the deal from both sides of the table: what a JV funder provid...
Read the guide → StructuresMezzanine finance and the capital stack in property development
Most developers meet mezzanine finance as a single number, the loan that tops up the senior debt, but it is easier to use well once you can see the whole capital stack around it. This gui...
Read the guide →Reading done, scheme ready?
Send the position across and we will apply all of this to your actual numbers, with a straight view inside one working day.