FRP records £244.7m in funding as refinancing activity surges

FRP Real Estate Advisory has recorded £244.7m in funding arranged across 105 transactions in its latest funding report for the six months to 30th June 2026.

Refinancing climbed from 46% to 58% of completed deals, while purchase activity fell from 40% to 28%.

Existing clients accounted for 70% of completions, up from 50% in the second half of 2025, as the number of lenders used by the firm grew from 52 to 65.

By loan type, bridging remained the largest single category, accounting for a third of deals (33.3%) and a third of value (32%).

Residential lending rose from £127m to £133m, remaining the largest asset class, although a significant share reflects investment stock being held and refinanced onto BTL facilities rather than new development.

Residential mortgages made up 21% of deals but just 4.3% of value, reflecting a high number of smaller facilities, while development accounted for 14.3% of deals and 23.1% of value; a separate £25.8m self-build facility made up a further 10.6% of value from one transaction.

Office debt eased from £69m to £49.7m and healthcare fell sharply from £29m to £1.2m, while lending against PBSA rose from £21m to £33.8m, driven by two prime schemes completed this year.

Regionally, the South West saw the strongest gains of the half, with lending rising from £14m to £36.4m.

Andrew Robinson, partner at FRP Real Estate Advisory (pictured above), said: “What has really shaped this year is the return of the banks — and they have come back at every level of the market, not just at the top.

“The challengers cannot always win on price, so they are winning on the journey instead, bridging a client into an asset, funding the works and then keeping them as the relationship matures onto a term product.

“We placed deals with 65 lenders this half, up from 52, and almost none of it was a rate-card exercise, with every deal argued and matched to the right funder.

“That is exactly why clients are leaning so heavily on advisers who know the whole landscape rather than a handful of relationships, and why this has been one of the hardest markets I have worked in — but also one of the deepest, with real choice out there for those who know where to look.”

Edward Horn-Smith, partner at FRP Real Estate Advisory, added: “Liquidity is strong, and the demand to borrow is just as strong. The real skill right now is bringing the two together and getting deals over the line.

“We see two clear directions of opportunity for the rest of the year: refinancing assets that are still sitting on legacy terms as balance-sheet lenders offer higher LTVs, and acquisition finance for stock trading at a genuine discount.

“We are currently working on one office deal being bought at close to half what the vendor paid seven years ago, and that tells you more about where this market is than any single transaction usually would.

“Developers are not building for profit anymore; they are building to get their money back, and finding lenders willing to back that is where we are spending most of our time.”