Six worked examples · anonymised, numbers preserved
UK dev exit finance, from the developer's side.
Six anonymised case studies from completed UK residential development schemes. Facility size, terms, sales outcomes, actual cost of finance, and the one lesson each developer took away from the deal.
- #01 on plan12-unit residential new-build, CamdenConventional mid-market scheme. Strong area, conservative pricing, fast sales velocity. Exit finance beat the extended senior tail by £78k over the 9-month actual hold.Facility: £4.2m GDV: £6.5m Rate: 0.65% pm Term: 12m
- #02 extended9-unit heavy refurb conversion, BrightonSlower sales market than modelled. Extended facility twice. Pricing stepped up from 0.82% pm to 0.92% pm for the final 3 months.Facility: £1.9m GDV: £2.9m Rate: 0.82% pm Term: 15m
- #03 refi early24-unit BTR scheme, LeedsSold the entire block to a single institutional buyer after 5 months. Repaid early with no ERC. Would have been cheaper to stay on senior + block sale direct, but certainty of execution was worth the premium.Facility: £7.8m GDV: £12.2m Rate: 0.68% pm Term: 18m
- #04 on plan5-unit office-to-resi conversion, BristolSmaller ticket, specialist non-bank lender. Higher rate (0.85% pm) but completed in 14 days from term sheet. Time-to-close made up for the rate.Facility: £1.2m GDV: £1.9m Rate: 0.85% pm Term: 12m
- #05 on plan16-unit scheme with mezzanine, LiverpoolSenior + mezz stack at construction. Dev exit refinanced both in one facility at 68% LTV of completed value. Mezz repaid in full, profit distribution followed final unit sale.Facility: £5.4m GDV: £8.0m Rate: 0.72% pm Term: 15m
- #06 stepped up18-unit scheme, LeicestershireSales covenant required 50% of units sold by month 6. Achieved 40%. Rate stepped up to 0.90% pm for subsequent months. Extended 3 months. Final hold cost ~20% above base-case.Facility: £4.5m GDV: £6.8m Rate: 0.75% pm Term: 12m
How to read these
Every case study is real in shape — facility size, scheme type, monthly rate, sales period, and outcome are all as they actually were. Names, precise locations, and developer identities are changed. The lessons at the end of each are what the developer would tell themselves going into the next scheme.
For the mechanics, see the companion Dev Exit Playbook. For quick cost comparison, the calculator runs the all-in vs refi break-even live.