Developer with an equity gap
Mezzanine top-up or JV equity to close the gap between senior debt and total cost.
JV & equity desk for property developers · Construction Capital portfolio
Joint venture property development funding, built as one stack.
JV development finance, 100% development finance, development equity, mezzanine and stretch senior. We help developers build the capital stack, from senior debt to equity partner.
Advice from
Matt Lenzie · 25+ year career banker (Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group). £300m+ of equity and debt raised for property clients.
25+ year career banker (Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group). £300m+ of equity and debt raised for property clients.
100+
Lenders and funding partners on panel
90%
Of cost fundable with senior plus mezzanine
8-12%
Typical JV priority return per annum, June 2026
20%+
Profit on cost JV partners look for
The capital stack
Every development is funded in layers. We arrange all of them.
Senior development finance stops at 60 to 65 percent of cost. Everything above that line, the stretch, the mezzanine, the equity, is where schemes stall and where this desk works. As of June 2026 we structure the whole stack as one negotiation: debt terms, intercreditor positions and JV equity agreed together, so no layer is left fighting the others.
The layers price by their place in the repayment queue, not by lender appetite on the day. Understanding that mechanic, and presenting a scheme so each layer's risk is obvious and bounded, is what gets a stack funded at sensible terms. Start with our guide to the capital stack, or put your numbers through the capital stack calculator.
JV equity
Profit share after a priority return
Top slice, repaid last
Mezzanine
14% to 20% pa, second charge
To ~90% of cost
Stretch senior
9.5% to 13% pa, single facility
To 85-90% of cost
Senior debt
7% to 11% pa, first charge
To 60-65% of cost
JV & equity funding
From equity gap to full 100% funding, one advice channel.
Joint ventures, development equity, mezzanine and stretch senior: every route a developer uses to fund the slice above the senior debt, structured and placed from a single appraisal.
Joint venture development finance
Equity partner plus debt, structured as one stack.
A funding partner puts in the equity your scheme needs, senior debt sits underneath, and profit is shared on completion. We structure the SPV, the priority return and the profit split, then place the whole stack with partners who back deals like yours.
100% development finance
Full project funding with no cash deposit.
True 100% funding is a capital stack, not a single loan: senior debt to its loan-to-cost ceiling, then mezzanine or JV equity covering the rest. We build that stack so your cash contribution falls to zero, or close to it, in exchange for a share of profit.
Development equity
Equity finance for property development.
Equity invested into your development SPV in return for a profit share: the layer that sits behind all the debt and makes the rest of the stack work. Family offices, funds and private investors, matched to your scheme size and sector.
Development funding partners
Investors who back property developers.
The hard part of raising equity is not the pitch, it is reaching investors who actually deploy into development. We maintain relationships with equity partners, family offices and funds and introduce developers whose schemes fit their criteria.
Mezzanine finance
Second-charge funding above the senior debt.
Mezzanine sits behind the senior lender on a second charge and tops the stack up to around 90% of cost. Dearer than senior, far cheaper than giving up equity, and the fastest way to cut the cash a scheme needs from you.
Stretch senior finance
One facility to 85–90% of cost.
Stretched senior debt replaces the senior-plus-mezzanine pairing with a single facility and a single lender, typically to 85% or 90% of cost. One valuation, one set of legals, one monitoring surveyor, and no intercreditor negotiation.
The capital stack
How development deals are layered and priced.
Senior debt, stretch senior, mezzanine and equity, what each layer costs, the order they get repaid, and how the right structure changes the return on your own cash. The reference page for everything this site arranges.
How a deal gets done
Appraisal in, funded stack out.
01
Send the appraisal
Any format. GDV, land and build costs, planning status, your track record. We rebuild it the way a credit committee reads it.
02
Get the structure
Within one business day: the binding constraint, the realistic stack, the equity gap, and what a JV partner's terms would leave you.
03
Meet the capital
We introduce the scheme to the lenders and funding partners whose criteria it actually fits: senior, mezzanine and equity, agreed as one stack.
04
Complete and build
SPV, shareholders' agreement and intercreditor terms aligned before lawyers are instructed. You build; the stack funds.
A worked stack
Six units, £2.4m GDV, no developer cash in.
Land at £600,000, build at £1,000,000 plus a 10 percent contingency: hard costs of £1,700,000. Senior development finance at 65 percent of cost provides £1,105,000. A mezzanine top-up of £425,000 takes the debt to 90 percent of cost. A JV equity partner funds the remaining slice, around £600,000 with working capital, under a 10 percent priority return and a 50/50 split.
The scheme completes in 18 months and makes roughly £500,000 of profit. The partner takes their capital back, £90,000 of priority return and half the residual. The developer banks about £205,000 having funded none of the equity, and the next scheme starts with this one's track record behind it.
Your scheme will not match these numbers. The structure still applies: run it through the 100% development finance calculator and the JV profit split calculator, or send us the appraisal.
| Gross development value | £2,400,000 |
| Hard costs (land + build + contingency) | £1,700,000 |
| Senior debt, 65% of cost | £1,105,000 |
| Mezzanine, to 90% of cost | £425,000 |
| JV equity (partner funded) | £600,000 |
| Scheme profit, 18 months | ~£500,000 |
| Developer profit, zero cash in | ~£205,000 |
Illustrative, as of June 2026. Leverage, pricing and split vary by scheme, track record and location.
Who we act for
Five developer situations. One way of working.
Each situation needs a different stack and a different pool of capital. We structure the case once, then run it across the panel that fits.
How the desk worksFull-stack funding developer
100% development finance: senior to its ceiling, mezzanine or JV equity above, profit share negotiated.
Scaling developer
A repeat JV partner or equity line across multiple schemes, releasing cash to run more sites in parallel.
Landowner with planning
Land-as-equity JV: site value counted as the equity contribution, partner funds the build, profit shared.
First-scheme developer
Track-record problem: structures that get a first scheme funded, usually with an experienced JV partner alongside.
Calculators
Numbers first.
Calculators built to the way lenders and funding partners actually appraise development deals. Run yours, then send us the figures.
Capital stack calculator
Layer senior, mezzanine and equity on your scheme: blended cost of capital and the cash you need in.
Open calculator →
100% development finance calculator
How close to 100% funding your scheme can get, and what the equity gap costs to close.
Open calculator →
JV profit split calculator
Profit per party under a priority return and split: your £ profit and return on cash.
Open calculator →
Mezzanine cost calculator
Total cost of a mezzanine facility against the profit you would give up to a JV partner instead.
Open calculator →
Development profit calculator
GDV, profit on cost, return on equity and a simple IRR over your build and sales period.
Open calculator →
Guides
The mechanics, written from the lender side.
How JVs are structured, what each layer of the stack costs, and what funding partners actually underwrite. Written by a desk that spent 25 years approving these deals.
What is mezzanine finance? Second-charge development funding explained
Mezzanine sits behind the senior lender and in front of your equity. What it costs, how it is secured, and the maths against a JV instead.
10 min read →
What is GDV in property? Gross development value explained
Every number in a development appraisal hangs off GDV, and the lender’s valuer decides what it is. How the assessment works and why it drives the whole stack.
9 min read →
How property development joint ventures work, from heads of terms to exit
A development JV is an SPV, a shareholders’ agreement and a waterfall. The full life cycle from first conversation to profit distribution.
11 min read →
Property joint venture agreements: SPVs, shareholders’ agreements and security
The documents decide who controls the scheme and who gets paid first when it goes wrong. The clauses that matter and the ones developers regret.
10 min read →
JV profit splits: priority returns, waterfalls and who gets paid what
The headline split is the least important number in a JV. Priority returns and the waterfall decide what you actually bank, with worked examples.
10 min read →
How much deposit do you need for development finance?
From 25% of cost down to nothing at all, depending on how the stack is built. The real contribution at every leverage level, with the maths.
9 min read →
Frequently asked questions
What is a joint venture in property development?
A property development joint venture is a partnership between a developer and a funding partner, held in a special purpose vehicle (SPV) created for one scheme. The partner invests the equity the project needs, senior development finance provides the debt beneath it, and profit is shared at completion under a shareholders' agreement, usually after a priority return of 8 to 12 percent per annum on the partner's cash. The developer contributes the site, planning and delivery; the partner contributes capital.
How do developers fund a scheme with no money?
By building a capital stack instead of taking a single loan. Senior development finance funds 60 to 65 percent of cost, mezzanine finance can take debt to around 90 percent of cost, and a JV equity partner funds the remainder in return for a profit share. As of June 2026 a scheme showing 20 percent plus profit on cost, with planning granted and a credible delivery team, can realistically be funded to 100 percent of cost this way.
What profit split should a developer expect in a JV?
An experienced developer bringing a consented site typically negotiates 50 percent of residual profit after the partner's priority return, sometimes more. First-scheme developers should expect 35 to 45 percent. Landowners contributing the site as their equity often retain the majority share, because the partner's cash only funds the build.
What is the capital stack in property development?
The capital stack is the layered structure of funding behind a development, ranked by repayment priority: senior debt first (7 to 11 percent per annum as of June 2026), then stretch senior or mezzanine (9.5 to 20 percent), then equity, which is repaid last and earns a share of profit rather than interest. The cheaper a layer, the earlier it is repaid if things go wrong. Structuring the stack well is the difference between funding a scheme and owning all of its risk.
Enquiry
Talk through your scheme
Same-business-day callback. Fee-free initial consultation. Access to 100+ development lenders, mezzanine funds and equity partners.
- →Full-stack panel: senior lenders, mezzanine funds and equity partners.
- →Same-business-day callback during office hours.
- →Initial consultation always fee-free.