Hodge Bank
A Cardiff bank lending £2m to £16m of development and investment property finance across mainland Britain, funded by retail deposits and positioned on speed of execution.
What they do
Hodge, formally Julian Hodge Bank, lends against UK property from its own retail-funded balance sheet. Development finance covers residential, build-to-rent, industrial, logistics and mixed-use schemes; investment finance funds standing commercial and residential assets. Facilities run from £2m to £16m across England, Wales and Scotland, with borrowers ranging from UK companies and partnerships to Channel Islands and Isle of Man entities. Rates are fixed or variable on application rather than published, and the bank markets itself on completing several weeks faster than comparable lenders.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
The band covers a £3–15m raise end to end, which is unusual among property banks of this size, and the bank funds both the build and the standing asset, so a scheme can stay with one lender from development through to investment term. For a corporate borrower developing or holding property alongside a trading business, that continuity is worth as much as the margin.
Where they are not the fit
First-charge UK property security is required on every facility, so nothing here is available to a trading company borrowing against earnings. Northern Ireland is outside the lending area. Pricing is quoted case by case and only on application, which makes an early comparison against the specialist property funds necessary rather than optional.
Published terms
- Pricing
- Not published
- Speed to terms
- Not published
- Sponsored or sponsorless
- Corporate/professional investor focus; no sponsor-backed or private equity track record mentioned. Primarily owner-operated developers and professional landlords
- Where they lend
- England, Wales and Scotland (UK mainland). Northern Ireland excluded. Borrower can be UK individual, partnership, LLP, corporate, or Channel Islands/Isle of Man entity
- How they decide
- Relationship-driven; compact Cardiff-based team with direct access to decision-makers. Hodge claims to move several weeks faster than nearest competitors
- Personal guarantee
- Typically required
- Search funds and ETA
- No published route for search-fund or first-time acquirer borrowers
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
Hodge Bank 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 Hodge Bank lends, but which of these would own it.
Development finance
- Facility
- £2m to £10m
- Security
- First legal charge, debenture, personal guarantees (interest and cost overrun), collateral warranties where applicable; repayment via 100% net sales proceeds or refinance to term debt
- Funds
- Growth · Refinance
- Rules out
- Experienced developers only (minimum two comparable completed projects required); Commercial development requires pre-let or pre-sale; Northern Ireland excluded (England, Wales and Scotland only); Property security required
Investment finance
- Facility
- £2m to £16m
- Security
- First legal charge over UK mainland property; complex and overseas ownership structures considered
- Funds
- Acquisition · Refinance
- Rules out
- Northern Ireland excluded (UK mainland only: England, Wales and Scotland); Property security required; Experienced investors/professional landlords only
How they sit against the category
- Its published ceiling is £16m; 21 of the 42 challenger and specialist banks here go at least as high.
- Like 24 of the 42, it publishes no indicative price — a margin comes from a conversation, not a page.
Counted across the 42 challenger & specialist banks 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 Hodge Bank write?
Published facilities run £2m to £16m. A band is what a lender states it will do, not what it will do on a given credit.
Does Hodge Bank require a personal guarantee?
On Hodge Bank'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.
Does Hodge Bank lend to search funds or ETA buyers?
Not on the published evidence. Hodge Bank publishes no route for search-fund or first-time acquirer borrowers. A searcher's route to a lender usually runs through the quality of the target and the equity behind it.
Does Hodge Bank lend to companies without a private-equity sponsor?
Yes. Hodge Bank lends to owner-managed and corporate borrowers, and publishes no private-equity sponsor proposition.
Where does Hodge Bank lend?
England, Wales and Scotland (UK mainland). Northern Ireland excluded. Borrower can be UK individual, partnership, LLP, corporate, or Channel Islands/Isle of Man entity.
What does Hodge Bank lend?
The published product set is development finance, investment finance. Published sector focus is build to rent, commercial, industrial, land, logistics.
Sources
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.