Magnet Capital
A development finance specialist writing £500k to £4m for small residential schemes of up to about twenty units, with a decision in principle often within minutes.
What they do
Magnet Capital lends as principal against ground-up development, conversions and light or heavy refurbishment in England and Wales, chiefly south of Manchester with coverage extending to Cardiff, Newport and Plymouth. The team markets clear pricing agreed at the outset with arrangement and exit fees stated up front, and gives a decision in principle often within minutes of receiving the key project information. Facilities reach £4m, raised from a lower cap in 2025.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
Small residential development is underserved by lenders large enough to be reliable, and this is a focused specialist that answers quickly and prices transparently. For a developer building out ten to twenty units, the whole facility can come from one lender who understands schemes at that scale.
Where they are not the fit
Four million pounds is the ceiling and it sits at the very top of this lender's box, so a £3–15m requirement is mostly beyond it. Scotland and Northern Ireland are excluded, as is the north of England beyond Manchester. Schemes cap at around twenty units and lending is unregulated business-purpose only.
Published terms
- Pricing
- Not published
- Speed to terms
- Not published
- Sponsored or sponsorless
- Lends to SME housebuilders and property developers (corporate/trading borrowers) on a project basis; not a sponsor/private equity-fund lender. Property-secured, so borrower is the developer SPV/developer
- Where they lend
- England & Wales only. Primarily south of Manchester, plus Cardiff and Newport postcodes, extending to Plymouth in the south-west. No Scotland or Northern Ireland
- How they decide
- Hands-on, commercial, relationship-led; decision in principle 'often within minutes' once key project information is received. Broker-friendly (dedicated brokers page)
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
Magnet Capital lends through 3 separate books. Which one reads a deal decides the security, the covenant package and the band, so the question is rarely whether Magnet Capital lends, but which of these would own it.
Ground up development finance
- Facility
- £500k to £4m
- Security
- First-charge property development finance; up to 70% day-one loan to value, up to 65% loan to gross development value, up to 90% loan-to-cost (Jun-2025 enhancement: 100% of development costs including. professional fees); term up to 18 months; unregulated or business-purpose only
- Funds
- Growth · Refinance
- Rules out
- England & Wales only (primarily south of Manchester; Cardiff/Newport postcodes; down to Plymouth in south-west) - no Scotland/Northern Ireland; Unregulated business-purpose only (no owner-occupier/regulated); Max ~20 units per scheme
Conversion development finance
- Facility
- £500k to £4m
- Security
- First-charge property; conversion/change-of-use schemes; loan to value/loan to gross development value/LTC in line with ground-up product (up to 70% day-one loan to value, up to 65% loan to gross development value)
- Funds
- Growth · Refinance
- Rules out
- England & Wales only; Unregulated business-purpose only
Light / heavy refurbishment finance
- Facility
- £500k to £4m
- Security
- First-charge property; refurbishment or enhancement projects; secondary product line to development finance
- Funds
- Growth · Refinance
- Rules out
- England & Wales only; Unregulated business-purpose only
Limits that apply across the firm
Stated limits, taken from Magnet 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 schemes above ~20 units
How they sit against the category
- Its published ceiling is £4m; 72 of the 75 property-backed lenders here go at least as high.
- It lends through 3 distinct desks, where most firms here run one or two.
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 Magnet Capital write?
Published facilities run £500k to £4m. A band is what a lender states it will do, not what it will do on a given credit.
Where does Magnet Capital lend?
England & Wales only. Primarily south of Manchester, plus Cardiff and Newport postcodes, extending to Plymouth in the south-west. No Scotland or Northern Ireland.
What does Magnet Capital lend?
The published product set is ground up development finance, conversion development finance, light / heavy refurbishment finance. Published sector focus is airspace-developments, apartment-schemes, change-of-use, conversion, housing-schemes.
On the record
July 2026: completed and exited a £1,009,475 ground-up residential development loan behind King's Road, Chelsea (RBKC) — highly constrained site, no vehicular access, 21 Party Wall Awards (source: bridgingloandirectory.co.uk.
Sources: magnetcapital.co.uk
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.