A developer has secured a £2.39 million land bridge facility for a 72-home residential scheme on the Isle of Wight, completing the refinance in three weeks through Fiduciam after the original lender could not extend its facility.
The borrower had one month remaining on an already-extended bridging facility when the original delivery route encountered delays. The incumbent lender remained supportive but was unable to provide a further extension.
The site’s location presented additional challenges, as the Isle of Wight falls outside the lending criteria of several specialist lenders, reducing the available options during a time-sensitive period.
Technology-enabled lender search
The developer used Brickflow’s lender search technology, which is embedded in LandTech’s LandInsight platform. The system filtered for lenders whose criteria accommodated the location, asset type and required timescale. Four lenders returned terms within a short window.
The borrower had originally used LandInsight to verify the project’s feasibility and carried it through planning. The integration between the two platforms, announced in April, allows developers to compare live terms from more than 150 specialist lenders directly within LandInsight.
The same marketplace will be used to source an estimated £20 million in development finance once construction begins on the residential scheme.
Market context
The case reflects broader challenges in the development finance market, where timing and location-specific criteria can limit options. While UK mortgage approvals have shown recent volatility, specialist development finance remains subject to more granular lending criteria.
Frazer Campbell, chief revenue officer at Brickflow, said: “The borrower assessed the site there, took it through planning, and when the funding position became urgent, the whole lending market was already sitting in the platform they were working in.”
Preston Tucker, LandFund operations manager at LandTech, noted that securing finance is where projects most often encounter friction, particularly when timing is tight and assets sit outside standard criteria.
The integration of lending search tools into property appraisal platforms represents a shift in how developers approach project financing, similar to recent technology developments in the property sector.
