We undertake normal credit enquiries for credit referencing, status, asset ownership, and a personal meeting prior to the loan being agreed. These enquiries are carried out by our loan officers, who have underwriting and real business expertise.

Once the loan and borrower have passed our required standards, the final decision goes to our Credit Committee, which uses its expertise and collective knowledge to form a rounded view. Quite often, one of the Credit Committee members will visit you to help gain an insight into the factors that make a good loan and allowing you to meet one of our senior team. This helps us know more about you as a person – your character, history and reliability – beyond just an anodyne credit report. We believe this enables us to better assess the deal and confirm that you are capable of taking on and servicing the loan.

• Security for the loan must primarily be a first charge on freehold land and property
• The valuation of the land and property is on a strict bricks and mortar valuation
• The maximum loan to value is 65%
• The valuation must be done by a reputable local chartered surveyor, who is able to identify any factors that may affect our security
• A borrower must be credible, with sensible business ideas and freehold land and property to back them up, with a good track record in their community and be able to create the capital value or income to afford the loan