Clearwell Capital
A residential development lender with £250m of capacity from HSBC and Fasanara, writing stretch senior facilities of £750k to £5m from 6.5 per cent over base.
What they do
Clearwell Capital funds small and medium-sized residential developers in England and Wales, backed by a £150m facility from HSBC agreed in 2025 and £100m from Fasanara Capital. Stretch senior development finance is priced from 6.5 per cent over Bank of England base and bridging from one per cent a month, at up to 75 per cent of gross development value. Most applicants receive indicative terms within a day, credit approval follows and drawdown typically comes four to eight weeks from enquiry, with direct access to a credit committee the finance director sits on.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
Stretch senior is the point: higher leverage than a bank will offer in a single facility, without the borrower having to find mezzanine separately. For a residential developer with a consented scheme and a decent margin, that means less equity in the deal and one lender to deal with. Bank funding behind the facility gives certainty at drawdown.
Where they are not the fit
Facilities cap at £5m, so only the lower end of a £3–15m requirement is covered. The scheme must be residential-led, with any commercial element under a fifth of gross development value, must carry current planning permission and must show at least a twenty per cent margin on cost. There is no corporate lending here.
Published terms
- Pricing
- Stretch senior development finance from 6.5% over Bank of England Base Rate; bridging from 1.00% per month (clearwellcapital.co.uk)
- Speed to terms
- 4-8 weeks enquiry to drawdown; indicative terms within 24 hours for most applicants
- Sponsored or sponsorless
- Lends to SME housebuilders and property developers (corporate/developer borrowers) with a proven development track record; not sponsor/private equity-backed LBO lending
- Where they lend
- UK-wide (England and Wales residential development)
- How they decide
- In-house committed capital with direct access to decision makers; Credit Committee; indicative terms to 86% of applicants within 24 hours, credit approval typically within one week post site visit
- Personal guarantee
- Typically required
As published by the lender and last reviewed August 2026. Terms quoted on a deal are set by the credit, not by a published band.
The desks that lend
Clearwell Capital lends through 2 separate books. Which one reads a deal decides the security, the covenant package and the band, so the question is rarely whether Clearwell Capital lends, but which of these would own it.
Stretch senior development finance
- Facility
- £750k to £5m
- Security
- First charge or senior debt on the development asset, personal guarantee from developer; up to 75% loan to gross development value and up to 90% LTC
- Funds
- Growth · Refinance
- Rules out
- Property security required; Residential-led development focus (commercial element capped at 20% of GDV); Minimum 20% profit margin on costs; Current planning permission required
Bridging loans
- Facility
- £100k to £1m
- Security
- Secured on property; up to 75% loan to gross development value; site acquisition, planning bridges, refinancing and development exit
- Funds
- Growth · Refinance
- Rules out
- Property security required; Residential development sector borrowers only
Limits that apply across the firm
Stated limits, taken from Clearwell Capital’s own published criteria, beyond the ones each desk carries above. A limit is where a lender starts from, not where it always ends: several of these move on a strong enough credit.
- No appetite in non-property lending
How they sit against the category
- Its published ceiling is £5m; 67 of the 75 property-backed lenders here go at least as high.
- 65 of the 75 publish an indicative price at all; it is one of them.
Counted across the 75 property-backed lenders in this directory, on what each one publishes. What a lender discloses and what it will do are different things.
Questions this page answers
How large a facility does Clearwell Capital write?
Published facilities reach £5m, and the bottom of the published range is small-ticket business rather than a corporate facility. A band is what a lender states it will do, not what it will do on a given credit.
Does Clearwell Capital require a personal guarantee?
On Clearwell Capital's published terms, a personal guarantee is typically required. What a lender asks for on a given credit is settled in the documents, not by a published stance.
How quickly does Clearwell Capital move?
4-8 weeks enquiry to drawdown; indicative terms within 24 hours for most applicants. Published timetables describe a clean case; anything unusual in the security or the structure adds to them.
On the record
May 2025: secured £150m facility from HSBC to accelerate SME housing developments (alternativecreditinvestor.com, propertyweek.com.
May 2025: extended partnership with Fasanara Capital providing £100m, taking total capacity above £250m (fasanara.com.
Sources: clearwellcapital.co.uk · alternativecreditinvestor.com
This profile is a curated reference note drawn from public sources, not financial advice or a recommendation. Appetite and terms change; a lender's fit for a given credit is established by approaching it, not inferred from a page.