Mezzanine Finance for Property Development

Vision Finance has been providing mezzanine funding as a principal lender to experienced property developers since 2013. Based in central London, our team has substantial experience in property funding and development.

Mezzanine finance is used to fund the shortfall between the equity the developer has available to invest into a project, and the finance being provided by the senior lender. Property developers will often choose to use mezzanine finance to reduce the equity contribution required, thereby allowing the developer to invest in multiple projects at a time, or to undertake a larger project which would otherwise be unattainable. Using mezzanine finance can significantly enhance the developer's “return on equity”.


Key metrics:


  • Maximum of 75% of GDV
  • Allows the developer to borrow up to 90% of total costs
  • Mezzanine facility of £100k – £500k
  • Loan terms up to 24 months
  • Market leading interest rates
  • Lending throughout England (with particular focus on London and the Home Counties) on residential and mixed-use schemes


Key requirements from the borrower and project:


  • Full planning consent must be in place before we lend, however we are happy to look at a project if consent is expected to be granted shortly.
  • The developer will typically be expected to contribute a minimum of 10% of total costs (i.e. the costs of the site plus the build/professional costs).
  • The developer must have recent and relevant experience in projects of similar scale and location – unfortunately we cannot lend to inexperienced developers.
  • The location must be in an area with demonstrable demand for new homes.


What makes Vision Finance different?


  • We are willing to look at projects that many other mezzanine funds will consider as too small.
  • Rapid decision making.
  • Ability to provide funding to projects that have already started construction.
  • The professionals we work with (i.e. lawyers, valuers) typically charge a fraction of the price of the professionals chosen by our competitors.
  • We are always willing to provide practical advice where the developer requires this – covering all aspects from planning issues, legal and accounting advice, marketing, and interior design. Our interests are fully aligned to ensure the project is a success for all.
  • If the senior debt is not already in place we can arrange this for you – we are one of the leading debt advisory companies in London so this is our bread and butter.
  • Almost all of our business is due to repeat clients and word of mouth referrals - we are happy to provide testimonials.
  • Vision Finance has existing strong relationships with the majority of senior lenders who are active in the marketplace – this saves time and money when we are finalising the legal documentation.


We work in a very transparent way at Vision Finance, and we are very aware of the many differing finance structures available for property developers (in fact we structure and arrange all types of property development finance for our clients). If we think our clients have alternative funding options which would work out cheaper than using mezzanine finance, we would pursue these other options first. We have expert in-house modelling and we are happy to demonstrate different funding scenarios and the pros/cons of each structure.

For more information on mezzanine finance generally, or if you would like us to consider a specific project, please call us today on 0207 206 2500 or send an email to mezzanine@visionfinance.co.uk