Overheard at FP Show 2025: Budget jitters, market rivalry, and legal logjams

With Budget anticipation creating a ‘wait-and-see’ atmosphere, and growing competition in the specialist lending industry, finance providers identified speed, efficiency, and relationships as the keys to success.

Market on edge

Harry Pleasance, BDM at Market Financial Solutions, was among many to highlight that “clients aren’t pulling the trigger due to the looming Budget”.

However, he also stated that unless the outcome of the Budget was extremely drastic, “people will adapt to the new norm”.

Hoping this week’s Budget will boost market activity, Martin Cameron, business development director of structured property finance at United Trust Bank, commented: “At the moment, there are less deals and the same number of lenders. So, we’re all fighting it out for a smaller pool of business.”

The same level of competition is also being seen between intermediaries, with Darius Shekarizzi, relationship director at Lendhub, noting that he had seen multiple brokers submitting the same deals.

Josh Knight, sales and marketing director at Octane Capital, said that borrowers stalling on property purchases were creating a gap where developers were struggling to repay their senior lenders, giving bridging lenders an opportunity to “plug that gap and buy them extra time”.

Josh was also optimistic that there remained a “resilience among property investors who continue to buy and add value to property, irrespective of market conditions”.

Squeezed from all sides

Both Josh and Clare Grimes, associate director at GRE Capital, emphasised the importance of lenders understanding their niche, allowing brokers to navigate the market more easily. Clare pointed out that “no one is sticking to their lane”, creating an environment where most lenders offer similar products, overwhelming brokers with too much choice.

She also believed that rising regulation and the increasing cost of finance had made real estate a trickier sector, noting however that trends were cyclical and that she anticipated a return to more favourable times for the industry.

What brokers really want from lenders

A recurring theme among the exhibitors was brokers’ need for clarity, both in lenders’ product offerings and in their communication with intermediaries. Martin commented: “Brokers always say they would rather have a quick no than [lenders leaving them] hanging for a few days and then still say no.”

He urged lenders to “evolve to stay relevant”, stressing that delivering top-notch service and valuing broker relationships were pivotal to retain business.

Razvana Khan, BDM at Hampshire Trust Bank, relied upon her experience as a broker to empathise with intermediaries struggling with appeasing their clients and negotiating with lenders.

She emphasised the importance of keeping brokers at the forefront of discussions and providing a wide range of services and products.

On standing out in a crowded market, Marios Theophanous, credit manager at LondonCredit, said it came down to results. With so much competition and varying rates and LTVs, he felt that what really counted was “whether the lender can deliver on time and [on] what they have promised to do”. Marios said that LondonCredit were also looking into introducing title insurance and AVMs to spee up the due diligence process and counteract legal delays.

Both Damien Druce, COO at Black & White Bridging, and Darius pointed out that any lenders not willing to evolve in the intensely competitive specialist finance space would be left behind.

According to Darius, the best way for lenders to adapt and differentiate themselves was through technology and AI adoption. He envisaged that, in the future, the sector would utilise AI to “run the background tasks, complementing what the people in the business do”.

Darius explained that the streamlining capabilities of technology needed to be combined with the human touch as “there are so many complexities and nuances [in bridging] that you still need that human element”.

Small queries take weeks in legals

Another point of tension raised by exhibitors was delays in the legal process. Damien explained “the age-old problem of borrowers’ legal representation slowing deals down and not being tenacious enough”, ultimately leading to missed deadlines.

Martin agreed, noting that ‘small queries’ that could be sorted with a quick call sometimes dragged on for weeks. He added that some brokers felt solicitors were slow to act on issues or “too uncommercial” in their decisions.

UK still in love with property

Looking at the positives, Tanya Elmaz, managing director of intermediary sales at Together, praised the property market’s strength, saying she approached challenges with “a mindset of opportunities, solutions, and saying yes”, seeing them as chances to adapt.

Josh also agreed that there were plenty of reasons for optimism, claiming that "property developers present the biggest opportunity to the lenders in the room today." 

She explained that the UK remained “absolutely in love with property”, explaining that investors and borrowers would continue to find new ways to leverage their portfolios, regardless of the aftermath of the upcoming Budget.

However, Tanya conceded that the landscape of the property sector had changed with fewer “casual landlords” entering the market out of curiosity, hinting at the growing professional nature of the industry.