About UKAF
UK Agricultural Finance is an innovative and flexible lender to the commercial agricultural sector across England, Scotland and Wales. Securing finance is essential for every business. We offer a bespoke lending service, with flexible options tailored to your needs, and the ability to talk directly to the loan underwriter.
Everything we do is different. We offer a personalised and adaptable service experience like no other. We are committed to responsible lending and helping you grow your business. Our team is trained to find solutions, not say no.
Our underwriting team and head office is based in the stunning countryside of Kent. But we also have local customer relationship managers based all over the country. We will always visit a borrower in person on their farm to fully understand their circumstances and needs.
UKAF is a privately owned company with a group of highly experienced investors at the helm. Without our investors, we wouldn’t be able to bring you our loans.
UK Agricultural Finance Limited is not regulated by the FCA, as we only lend for business purposes therefore our loans are actually considered unregulated.
We have a number of new products planned, designed to meet specific needs of the agricultural sector. It there’s something you particularly require, let us know – you’ll be surprised how quick and adaptive we can be.
We are often looking for interesting and experienced people with an entrepreneurial spirit to help us turn our vision into a reality. If you’re interested in joining us or finding out more about our current vacancies please email us on Info@ukagricultrualfinance.com
Fundamentals
We are a small team focussed only on Britain’s agricultural sector, so we understand your business and offer a reliable and flexible service, where you can talk directly to anyone in the organisation and in particular, the people who make our lending decisions.
Hard to say, as we’re yet to find an average farmer. In general, our borrowers tend to be hard working, entrepreneurial individuals who are willing to take responsibility for their own well-being and just need funding by a like-minded organisation that trusts people, rather than computers or call centres.
We don’t have high street branches because they’re unnecessary. You can manage your relationship with us on your phone or email. And we visit everyone we lend to in person.
Yes, we take responsible lending very seriously and always try to work in our borrowers and investors’ best interests. We recommend that any potential borrower should always seek appropriate independent professional advice before approaching us (or anyone) for a loan.
We are committed to working towards Net Zero. This includes committing to the following:
- Reducing our own emissions
- Understanding and reducing the emissions we finance
- Supporting a fair transition for farming
You can read our full statement on Net Zero here.
UK Agricultural Finance is committed to acting ethically and responsibly across our business and supply chain. You can read our full Modern Slavery Statement here.
Borrowing
We lend from £100,000 to £10 million and up to 65% of the value of the agricultural land and buildings upon which the loan is secured.
Our loans are available for up to seven years.
The interest rate depends on how much you want to borrow, what percentage this is of the security value, your credit history and the level of risk we assess your loan to represent. Each case is individually reviewed and takes all your details into account.
We will lend for any credible business purpose, such as property purchase or transfer, refinancing, working capital, business growth, investment, diversification, renewable energy and business acquisition.
We accept applications from sole traders, partnerships (English or Scottish), limited liability partnerships, limited companies, PLCs and pension funds, provided you are based in Britain.
To apply for a loan please contact a member of our team who will discuss your requirements and explain the process to you, or complete the enquiry form on the relevant page and we will get back to you.
Our fee structure is simple and transparent. These fees only apply if you accept a loan and are set out in the Facility Letter. Other charges are listed within our Lending Fees Guide.
Some of our lower cost loans have an early redemption charge during the first couple of years. However, this will be clearly disclosed to you before you sign. If you have pre-paid a proportion of the interest and you repay before the end of the prepayment period expires, we will refund the unused interest without charge.
In some circumstances our solicitor will be able to represent you as well as UKAF, saving cost, however this option is only available for simple transactions and depends on the circumstances of the individual loan. If this is not the case, then you must be represented by your own independent solicitor.
UKAF will never, under any circumstances, ask you for an upfront fee in order to borrow from us. We may require you to directly pay the valuer’s fee for an independent valuation report and provide an undertaking to cover our external legal costs, once you have accepted an offer in principle, but we will never require you to pay anything to talk to us or have a broker introduce your loan request to us.
We sometimes pay a fee to a broker or introducer, but this will be disclosed to you in our Offer in Principle and clearly recorded in your Facility Letter (the contract for your loan)
No. UKAF does not offer any form of insurance to borrowers and we recommend that you seek appropriate independent advice on the level and type of insurance you should hold.
If borrowers are late in their repayments, we may apply an administration fee or an increased interest charge as set out in the Facility Letter that we will both have signed, before you receive the loan.
We move quickly and our loans page explains the information we require for an in-principle response. With the right information, we can provide an offer in-principle within 12 hours and funding within 10 business days. However, normally the things that take the time are the independent chartered surveyor’s valuation report and your solicitor’s ability to provide the relevant security documentation, both of which are under your control.
If your question hasn’t been answered via our FAQ page, or if you need to get in touch with us directly you can call or email the head office. Or if you would like to contact one of our local team click here and select your area. You can also write to us at Unit B, Great Hollanden Business Centre, Mill Lane, Underriver, Kent, TN15 0SQ.
If at any time you believe that you may not be able to make one or more repayments, please contact us immediately. We will work constructively with you to manage the situation and avoid undue costs, provided you are open and honest with us, and respond promptly. If you miss a payment or only partially pay the amount due, we (ourselves or through an agent acting on our behalf) will contact you and ask you to explain why and will attempt to recollect the payment. If our reattempt to collect the funds fails, your account may be treated as an overdue account, and we will continue to attempt to collect the funds. We may refer the missed payment to a debt collections agency, who will attempt to collect the money on our behalf.
