Sancus Finance

What Sancus Finance does

Sancus Lending Group Limited (trading as Sancus Finance / Sancus UK) is an AIM-listed, Guernsey-domiciled specialist property finance group majority-owned by Somerston, providing bridging and development finance to UK property developers and their investor counterparties. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Manchester with a London registered office, the group operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries in the UK, Ireland, Guernsey, and Jersey. Core products are Bridging Finance (short-term secured loans from £500k to £15m for auctions, renovations, and time-sensitive purchases) and Development Finance (staged construction funding from £1m to £15m, typically up to 75% LTV or 85% LTC), supplemented by a specialist Social Housing Finance line. Operations are managed through a proprietary Loan Management System developed in-house, with data held in certified UK data centres and CRM on Microsoft cloud infrastructure.

The revenue model is overwhelmingly interest-driven, supplemented by facility and transaction fees, with rates typically starting from 0.9% per month for bridging and 1% per month for development lending, charged on drawn balances and released in staged payments aligned to project milestones. In November 2025 the group executed a strategic exit from the retail peer-to-peer lending market and withdrew FCA retail permissions, transitioning to an institutional-only funding model anchored by a £300m senior secured credit facility from Pollen Street Capital (upsized from £200m in February 2026 and extended to February 2031). The go-to-market is relationship-led, combining direct origination from a UK-based relationship team (Manchester and London), a broker and introducer network with dedicated portal pathways, and case-study-driven content marketing.

FY2025 financial performance showed revenue of £22.1m (+32% YoY), profit before tax of £1.2m, new lending facilities of £212.5m (nearly doubled), assets under management of £306m, and a 40% team expansion. Q1 2026 continued the trajectory with £3.9m revenue in the first two months (+30% YoY) and £27.53m of new lending. Management has been renewed with Andrew Charnley appointed Group CEO in July 2026 (succeeding Rory Mepham, who moved to a strategic role at Somerston), supported by new senior hires including a Director of Funding, Credit Operations Manager, Senior Portfolio Manager, and Treasury Analyst.

Name

Sancus Finance

Legal name

Sancus Lending Group Limited

Website

https://sancus.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sancus Finance is an AIM-listed, Somerston-backed specialist property lender providing bridging and development finance (£500k–£15m) to UK property developers, HNWIs, and family offices, funded institutionally via a £300m Pollen Street Capital credit facility.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialist Property Finance

NAICS

Real Estate Credit (522292), Nondepository Credit Intermediation (5222)

SIC

Mortgage Bankers & Loan Correspondents (6162)

akta.pro primary industry

Construction & Development (C&D) Lending — Commercial/Multifamily (FSALADAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Debt & Capital Advisory (Debt Raising, Refinancing, Private Credit) (BPAHAOAD)

Keywords

• Bridging finance
• Development finance
• Property lending
• Real estate finance
• Short-term secured loans

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Bridging Loan Interest: Short-term secured loans with monthly interest rates (from 0.9% per month), used for property transactions including auctions, renovations, and time-sensitive purchases
2. Development Finance Interest: Staged payments aligned to project progress for property construction and renovation. Interest rates from 1% per month with loan sizes £1m to £15m
3. Facility Fees: Fees associated with credit facilities and lending arrangements with institutional capital partners

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Sancus UK is a specialist property finance lender providing tailored bridging loans (short-term secured loans from £500k to £15 million for auctions, renovations, and time-sensitive property purchases) and development finance (£1 million to £15 million with staged milestone payments for construction and renovation projects). The company also offers social housing finance for registered providers and operates a proprietary Loan Management System (Sancus Platform) for deal execution, now funded exclusively by institutional capital.

Product overview

Sancus Finance operates as a property finance specialist offering two core products: Bridging Finance (short-term secured loans from £500k to £15 million for property transactions, auctions, and renovations) and Development Finance (construction funding from £1 million to £15 million with staged milestone payments). The company also provides specialist Social Housing Finance for affordable housing providers. Operations are managed through the proprietary Sancus Platform, with lending funded by institutional partners following the exit from retail peer-to-peer lending. The company operates across the UK (Manchester head office, London office), Ireland, and Channel Islands.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bridging Finance Short-term secured loans for property transactions including auctions, renovations, refurbishments, and time-sensitive purchases. Provides bridging finance from £500k to £15 million for residential and commercial properties with monthly interest rates from 0.49% plus base rate to 0.9% per month. Targeted at property developers and investors needing rapid capital.
• Development Finance
• Social Housing Finance
• Sancus Platform

Quantifiable outcome

• Revenue increased 32% to £22m in 2025
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Leonard CurtisminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 26 June 2026Professional services firm that arranged £3.3m funding package for Abacus Employment Services, introducing Sancus UK as one of three new funding partners alongside Finance For Enterprise and Cynergy Business Finance.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Octane Capital: Specialist UK bridging and development finance lender serving property professionals and investors. Direct peer with similar product suite, sales-led distribution, and focus on speed/flexibility vs high-street banks.
• LendInvest: UK-based specialist property finance platform originating bridging, development, and buy-to-let loans via a tech-led, capital-partnered model. Direct comparable in business model (originate + institutional funding) and product mix.
• West One Loans: UK specialist property lender focused on bridging and development finance. Direct competitor targeting similar developer and investor segments across England and Wales with comparable loan size ranges.
• Together Money: UK-based specialist lender offering bridging, development, and short-term property finance to individuals and businesses. Directly comparable as a non-bank specialist lender with similar product mix and target borrowers in the UK property market.
• HTB (Hampshire Trust Bank): UK specialist bank with a property finance division offering bridging, development, and specialist mortgages. Direct competitor for development finance; Sancus recruited Credit Operations Manager Clair Dempsie from HTB.
• Close Brothers Property Finance: Close Brothers' property finance division provides bridging and development loans across the UK. Comparable in product offering, target segment (property developers), and is one of Sancus's direct competitors for deal flow (Hassan Ajmal was recruited from Close Brothers Property Finance).

Broad incumbents

• Shawbrook Bank: UK specialist challenger bank with material exposure to property development and bridging finance. Comparable as a larger, deposit-funded specialist lender operating across similar UK property segments.
• NatWest (Royal Bank of Scotland): UK clearing bank with a property finance franchise serving professional developers and investors. Comparable as a broader incumbent lender against which Sancus benchmarks on speed, plus former employer of several Sancus relationship directors.
• Paragon Banking Group: UK specialist bank with a substantial property finance / commercial lending franchise. Comparable as a broader incumbent operating in similar bridging and development segments but with a much larger balance sheet, deposit base, and product portfolio.
• Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking: Major UK commercial bank providing property development and bridging finance to professional developers. Larger incumbent competitor for development finance deals; serves as the high-street lender Sancus positions itself against on speed and flexibility.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sancusfinance
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-sancus-group

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments2 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sancus Finance