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Does the collapse of specialist lender Market Financial Solutions mean the specialist lending market is broken? No. But it’s a serious warning. MFS entered administration in February after funding partners and creditors took action against the bridging and BTL lender. Since then, reports have raised serious questions about alleged fraud, funding structures, connected-party lending, security arrangements and whether some assets may have been pledged more than once. The FCA has

For the last two years, borrowers have been asking one question: “When will rates come down?” Fair enough. The Base Rate matters. Swap rates matter. The cost of finance matters. For investors and developers, the cost of debt can be the difference between a deal working and a deal quietly disappearing into the “numbers don’t stack” pile. Right now, there is a better question: “What assumptions are lenders still prepared to believe?” Because that is where the market has changed

In just three weeks, the outlook for UK interest rates has changed dramatically. Only last month, we were feeling far more optimistic. I was telling anyone who would listen that the next move in the Base Rate would be another cut – and soon. The US-Israel attacks on Iran have changed everything. Let’s rewind three weeks. At its February meeting, inflation had eased to 3%, and the Bank of England’s MPC voted 5-4 to hold Base Rate at 3.75%. Four members voted for an immediate 2

A fatal blow for landlords – or just a reminder that buy-to-let is no longer a casual side project? The Renters Rights Act 2025 is finally upon us, coming into force on 1 st May. The past few months have triggered familiar reactions across the property world: frustration, gloomy headlines, predictions of mass landlord exits, and yet more claims that BTL is finished. It’s easy to see why. Landlords have already had to absorb years of change. Tax relief has been squeezed. Regu

If you’re a developer who builds new homes, you’ll no doubt be familiar with the line that can change the entire scheme: “Planning consent is subject to a Section 106 affordable housing requirement.” On paper, it’s a tenure split: private open market sales vs affordable/social rent vs shared ownership. In practice, it’s a cashflow structure, a delivery challenge, and an exit risk that lenders will underwrite as closely as land value, build costs and GDV. This article explains

If you’re taking your first step from ‘investor’ to ‘developer’, development finance can feel like a different sport. The money is bigger, the timelines are longer, the paperwork is heavier, and the lender isn’t just underwriting you – they’re underwriting a moving project with multiple points of failure. The good news: most first-time developer deals don’t fail because they’re bad deals. They fail because the package is incomplete, the risks aren’t explained, or the number