Written by the Lendus editorial team. Last updated .
The best LendInvest alternatives include Together for complex cases and a £50,000 floor, Shawbrook Bank for bank-funded bridging, West One Loans for second charge and a 2 to 3 week completion, Octopus Real Estate for schemes above £15 million, Precise Mortgages for portfolio landlords, Avamore Capital for less experienced developers, and CrowdProperty for residential development finance with published rates.
LendInvest is a technology-led property finance platform offering bridging loans, development finance and commercial mortgages from £75,000 to £15 million. Bridging is priced from 0.54% to 1.2% per month and development finance from around 7% per annum. Credit decisions land in 24 to 48 hours, with legal completion typically 2 to 4 weeks behind.
Borrowers leave for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the platform. The £75,000 floor is the most common: a small refurbishment, a title split or a modest auction lot will not reach it. Development finance expects demonstrable developer experience, which is a hard stop for a first scheme. LendInvest is not a specialist adverse credit lender, so severe or recent credit events can be declined where a complex-case specialist would look harder. And arrangement fees and exit fees can add materially to what looks like a competitive headline rate.
Note on regulation: this guide makes no claim about LendInvest’s own regulatory status, because our lender record for LendInvest has not been through source verification. Check LendInvest, and every lender below, on the FCA Register at register.fca.org.uk before you commit to anything.
The seven lenders below all compete with LendInvest on property-secured lending, and each one beats it on a specific, checkable dimension.
Together has been lending since 1974 and specialises in exactly the cases that a technology-first underwriting model handles least well: non-standard properties, unusual income, and adverse credit considered case by case. It starts at £50,000 rather than £75,000 and stretches to £25 million, well beyond LendInvest’s £15 million.
Rates and amounts: 0.55% to 1.5% per month, which is a monthly rate and not an APR; £50,000 to £25 million.
Eligibility: No trading history required, lending is property-backed; no minimum turnover, income and asset position reviewed.
Pros: Over 50 years of specialist lending; adverse credit and non-standard income accepted on a case-by-case basis; indicative terms within 24 hours on bridging enquiries; covers bridging, commercial mortgages and development finance.
Cons: Rates run higher than mainstream commercial mortgages; a clear and viable exit strategy is required on bridging; arrangement fees and legal costs add to the total.
Best for: Borrowers whose deal or credit profile is the reason LendInvest said no, and anyone whose loan sits between £50,000 and £75,000.
Shawbrook holds a full banking licence and lends off its own balance sheet, and its underwriting reputation is built on portfolio landlords, HMOs and semi-commercial assets. Bridging is priced from 0.55% per month, effectively level with LendInvest, and commercial mortgages start at 5.5% per annum.
Rates and amounts: 0.55% to 1.25% per month on bridging, which is a monthly rate and not an APR; commercial mortgages from 5.5% per annum; £50,000 to £25 million.
Eligibility: No trading history required for property-backed bridging, 12 months or more preferred elsewhere; no turnover minimum for property finance, £200,000 or more for unsecured business loans.
Pros: Authorised bank, regulated by the FCA and PRA under reference 204574; specialist underwriters review every application rather than a score; strong track record on HMO, portfolio landlord and semi-commercial property; indicative terms within 24 hours.
Cons: Slower than pure fintech bridging lenders on straightforward deals; minimum deal sizes exclude very small property transactions; limited branch or telephone presence.
Best for: Portfolio landlords and investors with complex holdings who want a regulated bank rather than a lending platform behind the facility.
West One’s differentiator is structural rather than priced: it will lend behind an existing mortgage on a second charge basis, which is the difference between raising capital against a property and having to refinance the whole thing. It also completes faster than LendInvest, typically 2 to 3 weeks against 2 to 4.
Rates and amounts: 0.55% to 1.3% per month, which is a monthly rate and not an APR; buy-to-let mortgages from 5.8% per annum; £50,000 to £20 million.
Eligibility: No trading history required for property-backed bridging; no minimum turnover, lending is property and asset backed.
Pros: Second charge bridging available; both regulated and unregulated bridging offered; credit decisions within 24 hours and completion typically in 2 to 3 weeks; FCA authorised under reference 776026.
Cons: Primarily an intermediary-only lender, so best reached through a broker; development finance is more limited than at a dedicated development lender; arrangement fees and legal costs apply as standard.
Best for: Investors raising capital behind an existing charge, and anyone whose completion deadline will not survive a four-week legal process.
If your scheme is larger than LendInvest can write, Octopus is the obvious next call. Development loans run from £5 million to £100 million, among the largest limits of any UK specialist real estate lender, and it starts as low as £50,000 at the other end. It also offers a green incentive that no other lender here matches.
Rates and amounts: Residential bridging from 0.55% per month and commercial bridging from 0.85% per month, which are monthly rates and not APRs, with no published ceiling; a rate discount of up to 0.15% per month on bridging and development loans that improve a property’s EPC rating; £50,000 to £100 million.
Eligibility: No minimum trading history published, and newly formed special purpose vehicles are commonly used; no published turnover requirement, lending is asset-backed.
Pros: A £100 million ceiling for large schemes; both regulated bridging on a borrower’s own home and unregulated bridging for investment and commercial property from one lender; the EPC rate discount and a dedicated Greener Homes Alliance development product; institutional funding through Octopus Group.
Cons: A £1 million minimum applies to commercial bridging, so small commercial deals do not qualify; no published rate ceiling or representative APR, so cost is hard to benchmark upfront; credit policy and approval timescales are not published.
Best for: Developers and investors with schemes above £15 million, and anyone whose project improves a building’s EPC rating enough to earn the discount.
Precise sits in the same £75,000 to £15 million band as LendInvest and prices bridging similarly, but its underwriting is built around the borrower profile rather than the technology: four or more mortgaged properties, HMOs, multi-unit freehold blocks, semi-commercial assets, and self-employed or contractor income that a scorecard mishandles.
Rates and amounts: 0.59% to 1.3% per month on bridging, which is a monthly rate and not an APR; commercial and buy-to-let mortgages from 5.5% per annum; £75,000 to £15 million.
Eligibility: No trading history required, lending is property-backed; no minimum turnover, property and income backed.
Pros: Specialist criteria for portfolio landlords with 4 or more mortgaged properties; HMO, multi-unit freehold block and semi-commercial accepted; complex and mixed income sources accepted; experienced specialist underwriting rather than an automated decline; part of FTSE 250 OSB Group.
Cons: Credit decisions take 48 hours and completion typically 3 to 4 weeks, slower than LendInvest; primarily distributed through brokers with limited direct access; not an option for unsecured business finance.
Best for: Portfolio landlords and self-employed investors whose income structure, rather than the property, is what makes the case complicated.
This is the direct answer to LendInvest’s requirement for demonstrable developer experience. Avamore states that its development finance is available to less experienced developers, and that it is flexible on personal guarantees, overseas resident borrowers and complicated equity structures. It is also considerably faster on refurbishment work.
Rates and amounts: Bridging from 0.56% per month with the Bank of England Base Rate added and fixed for the life of the loan, which is a monthly rate and not an APR, with no published ceiling; development finance from 6.75% per annum plus base rate; £250,000 to £25 million.
Eligibility: No minimum trading history published; no minimum turnover published, lending is secured against the property or development scheme and its exit strategy.
Pros: Development finance open to less experienced developers; bridging can complete in 3 to 4 days and refurbishment finance is often approved within 24 hours; a principal lender making decisions in-house; flexible on complex equity structures and overseas borrowers.
Cons: Avamore states on its own website that it is not FCA authorised and provides unregulated loans to corporate entities and private individuals, so FCA-regulated consumer protections do not apply; the £250,000 minimum for bridging and refurbishment and £500,000 for ground-up development rules out smaller deals than LendInvest would take; rates move with the base rate; development lending is restricted to mainland England and Wales.
Best for: Developers on their first or second scheme in England or Wales, and refurbishment projects where a 24 hour approval changes the deal.
Where LendInvest’s development pricing is quoted from around 7% per annum, CrowdProperty publishes a monthly range for development finance and is run by people who developed property themselves. It is a narrower lender than LendInvest, residential and mixed-use only, but that focus shows in the underwriting.
Rates and amounts: 0.65% to 1.1% per month on development finance, which is a monthly rate and not an APR, with arrangement fees typically around 2% of the loan; £200,000 to £10 million.
Eligibility: No trading history required, development experience matters more; no minimum turnover, underwriting is project and developer based.
Pros: Founded by property development professionals, with deep sector expertise in underwriting; competitive development rates from 0.65% per month for experienced developers; a technology platform providing transparent project updates and drawdown management; FCA authorised under reference 723959.
Cons: The £200,000 minimum excludes small residential conversions; the crowdfunding model means funding timelines depend on investor appetite, with indicative terms in 48 hours but a full credit decision within 2 weeks and drawdown from 4 weeks; explicitly less suitable for first-time developers; commercial development is not covered.
Best for: Experienced residential and mixed-use developers between £200,000 and £10 million who want published development pricing rather than a bespoke quote.
| Lender | Amount range | Bridging rate | Products | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LendInvest | £75,000–£15m | 0.54%–1.2% per month | Bridging, development, commercial mortgages | 2–4 weeks |
| Together | £50,000–£25m | 0.55%–1.5% per month | Bridging, commercial mortgages, development | 2–4 weeks |
| Shawbrook Bank | £50,000–£25m | 0.55%–1.25% per month | Bridging, commercial mortgages, business loans | 2–4 weeks |
| West One Loans | £50,000–£20m | 0.55%–1.3% per month | Bridging, commercial mortgages | 2–3 weeks |
| Octopus Real Estate | £50,000–£100m | From 0.55% per month | Bridging, development, commercial mortgages | Not published |
| Precise Mortgages | £75,000–£15m | 0.59%–1.3% per month | Bridging | 3–4 weeks |
| Avamore Capital | £250,000–£25m | From 0.56% per month plus base rate | Bridging, development | 3–4 days on bridging |
| CrowdProperty | £200,000–£10m | 0.65%–1.1% per month (development) | Development, bridging | Drawdown from 4 weeks |
Choose Together if the deal sits between £50,000 and £75,000, or if adverse credit or a non-standard property is what stopped the LendInvest application.
Choose Shawbrook Bank if you want an authorised bank behind a complex portfolio case and can live with a two to four week completion.
Choose West One Loans if you need to raise money behind an existing charge, or if two to three weeks is the difference between completing and losing the deal.
Choose Octopus Real Estate if your scheme is larger than £15 million, or if improving the property’s EPC rating would earn you the rate discount.
Choose Precise Mortgages if you hold four or more mortgaged properties, or your income is self-employed, contracted or mixed.
Choose Avamore Capital if this is one of your first developments, or if a 24 hour refurbishment approval is worth accepting an unregulated lender and a base-rate-linked cost.
Choose CrowdProperty if you are an experienced residential developer between £200,000 and £10 million who wants a published rate range before applying.
Every monthly rate on this page is a monthly rate on the outstanding balance, not an APR, and none of them include arrangement fees, exit fees, valuation or legal costs. Ask each lender for the total cost in pounds over your expected term, and check every firm on the FCA Register at register.fca.org.uk before you commit.
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