Octopus Real Estate
A specialist real estate lender with fully discretionary fund capital, writing commercial bridging from 0.85 per cent a month and senior development finance from 6.75 per cent over SONIA, between £1m and £50m.
What they do
Octopus Real Estate lends from its own funds, with a fourth development fund targeting £750m in 2025, and needs no third-party approval to commit. Commercial bridging is priced from 0.85 per cent a month and senior development from 6.75 to 7.2 per cent over SONIA at up to 70 per cent leverage, with a typical two per cent arrangement fee. A team of more than fifty covers origination, credit and portfolio management. Qualifying residential cases complete in five to ten working days and commercial and development deals in around two weeks.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
Discretionary capital and published development margins are a rare combination, and the range covers a whole £3–15m requirement across both bridging and development. Care homes, build-to-rent and mixed-use schemes are core sectors rather than exceptions, which matters for a corporate borrower whose property is operational rather than purely investment.
Where they are not the fit
Coverage is England and Wales, with Scotland considered case by case on commercial bridging only and development coverage there unconfirmed. Contaminated industrial land is excluded, leverage caps at 70 per cent, and a developer track record is expected. Commercial bridging pricing sits at the higher end of the specialist market.
Published terms
- Pricing
- Commercial bridging from 0.85% per month (approx 1,020 bps pa). Development Light from 7.2% pa over SONIA; Development Standard from 6.75% pa over SONIA. Arrangement fee typically 2% of facility
- Speed to terms
- Fast Track (residential, qualifying) 5-10 working days. Commercial and development: 'completion from inception within 2 weeks' stated; larger complex deals may take longer
- Sponsored or sponsorless
- Both. Funds corporate property developers and private equity/institutional-backed vehicles. No stated preference
- Where they lend
- England and Wales for all products. Scotland for commercial bridging on a case-by-case basis
- How they decide
- 100% discretionary capital; no third-party approval required. Team of 50+ across origination, credit, portfolio management. Discretionary authority confirmed publicly. Authority is delegated below committee on at least part of the book
- Covenants
- Covenant-lite
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
Octopus Real Estate 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 Octopus Real Estate lends, but which of these would own it.
Commercial bridging finance
- Facility
- £1m to £25m
- Security
- First charge over commercial property; asset-backed, no minimum EBITDA or trading record required. Eligible assets: retail, offices, industrial, hotels, serviced apartments, PBSA, land with planning
- Covenants
- Covenant-lite
- Funds
- Acquisition · Refinance
- Rules out
- Scotland on case-by-case basis only; Contaminated industrial land excluded; Max loan to value 70%
Senior development finance (£2m-£5m light)
- Facility
- £2m to £5m
- Security
- First charge over development site; loan to gross development value up to 70%, LTC up to 85%. Property-secured, no EBITDA tests
- Covenants
- Covenant-lite
- Funds
- Growth
- Rules out
- Minimum track record expected for developer
Senior development finance (£5m+ standard)
- Facility
- £5m to £50m
- Security
- First charge over development site; up to 65% loan to gross development value or 85% LTC. Sectors: living, offices, industrial, retail, mixed-use. OREDF IV fund capital
- Covenants
- Covenant-lite
- Funds
- Acquisition · Growth
- Rules out
- Minimum developer track record expected; ESG alignment preferred
Limits that apply across the firm
Stated limits, taken from Octopus Real Estate’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 contaminated land
How they sit against the category
- Its published ceiling of £50m is among the 12 highest of the 75 property-backed lenders here.
- 65 of the 75 publish an indicative price at all; it is one of them.
- 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 Octopus Real Estate write?
Published facilities run £1m to £50m. A band is what a lender states it will do, not what it will do on a given credit.
How quickly does Octopus Real Estate move?
Fast Track (residential, qualifying) 5-10 working days. Commercial and development: 'completion from inception within 2 weeks' stated; larger complex deals may take longer. Published timetables describe a clean case; anything unusual in the security or the structure adds to them.
Where does Octopus Real Estate lend?
England and Wales for all products. Scotland for commercial bridging on a case-by-case basis.
On the record
July 2025: £13.4m care home development facility, Fleet, Hampshire.
March 2025: Launched OREDF IV targeting £750m, senior-secured UK real estate debt across living, offices, industrial, retail.
2025: £29.6m development finance for 111-unit mixed-use scheme, Bermondsey London (corporate developer Matching Green.
Sources: octopusrealestate.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.