Joint ventures give investors and developers the ability to pursue projects that would be out of reach individually. By combining capital, experience, and networks, partners can take on more ambitious schemes, move faster on acquisitions, and negotiate better terms with contractors and lenders. In 2025, lenders are supportive of well structured joint ventures, but they are also more exacting about governance, documentation, and exit plans. If you want the best funding terms, the way you set up the partnership matters as much as the quality of the asset.

This guide explains how joint venture property finance works this year, what lenders are looking for, how to choose a structure that supports funding and tax planning, and how to present your application so the combined strength of the partners is seen as a credit positive.

Why joint ventures are gaining momentum in 2025

Affordability ceilings for individual borrowers, higher build costs, and mixed market sentiment have pushed more projects into partnership territory. A well built JV allows you to share equity contributions, manage risk across multiple parties, and pair specialist skills, for example an experienced developer with a capital partner, or a contractor led team with a strategic site finder. Our comparison of SPVs versus trading companies is a useful primer on ownership choices that directly influence how lenders underwrite a JV.

Choosing the right JV structure

Most property JVs in the UK adopt one of three models. An SPV limited company, where all partners are shareholders, is straightforward for lenders to assess and tends to keep banking, security and accounting clean. Partnerships and LLPs can provide flexibility on profit sharing and can be efficient for certain investor profiles, although some lenders prefer corporate vehicles with clear shareholder registers. Contractual JVs keep assets in separate ownership and document a profit share by agreement, which can be attractive when partners already own complementary sites or units, but require careful legal drafting so a lender can see who controls cash flow and decision making.

Whichever route you select, document authority, reserved matters, what happens if a partner fails to fund, and how disputes are resolved. Lenders expect clarity on voting rights, capital calls, waterfall distributions, and key person responsibilities. If the structure involves multiple properties or phases, consider whether a single SPV per phase improves bankability, or whether you prefer a parent company with ring fenced subsidiaries. Where a JV holds several assets for income, a consolidated solution such as a portfolio facility can simplify banking. Our guide to portfolio mortgages in 2025 explains the trade offs.

What lenders will assess in 2025

Underwriting a JV is about more than the site. Lenders want to understand the combined track record and solvency of the partners, the equity committed in cash and in kind, the build programme and contingencies, and the exit. On residential investment exits, serviceability and yield remain central, while on development exits, gross development value, cost controls, and sales or letting assumptions are scrutinised. If the project mixes residential and commercial space, some lenders will shift the loan type or pricing. See our overview of commercial property mortgages in 2025 and our guide on financing mixed use property for what changes in underwriting.

Expect questions about security and guarantees. Many JV loans include debentures over the SPV, charges over the property, and in some cases limited personal guarantees or cost overrun guarantees. Intercreditor arrangements are common if there is mezzanine or investor loans behind the senior lender. Lenders will benchmark leverage and viability using the familiar ratios. If the project includes a build, loan to cost and loan to value matter during construction, while exit metrics key off gross development value. For investors building to hold, interest coverage and debt yield return to the foreground. Our explainer on LTV, LTC and GDV sets out what each number means for the funding conversation.

Funding routes for JV projects

Funding choices sit on a spectrum from fast and flexible to low cost and long term. Many joint ventures start with development finance for ground up or heavy conversions, often paired with equity from the partners and, where appropriate, subordinated debt. The speed and conditionality of bridging loans can be useful at acquisition, especially where a site is competitive or where planning is the value catalyst. If you are weighing speed against hold cost at the front end, our guide to what bridging finance is and when to use it covers the practicalities.

On larger or more complex projects, private banks and specialist lenders can consider bespoke structures, cross collateral support, or recognition of broader asset bases and liquidity. If you are deciding between the flexibility of a private bank approach and a more formulaic specialist lender, see our piece on private bank lending versus specialist broker solutions. Either way, start scoping the exit at the same time as the entry. Where the plan is to hold, you will want clear criteria for the refinance into a term facility as the project completes. For developers, our article on development finance in 2025 sets out current appetites, documentation, and the factors that speed up approvals.

Building a credible funding case

A well prepared JV will make a lender’s life easy. Present a single, cohesive business plan, not a set of competing narratives. Set out roles and responsibilities, procurement strategy, build contract terms, and contingency allowances. Provide experience summaries for each partner, including images and cost outcomes of comparable projects. If a contractor is also a partner, clarify how cost control and oversight are managed. On the financials, show realistic sensitivities for build costs, sale prices, rents, and time frames. Lenders appreciate honesty about risk and mitigation. If the scheme involves staged works or phased sales, explain how cash flow is protected and how debt will be reduced through milestones.

Where the exit is to hold rather than sell, define the target debt terms and provide evidence of rent comparables and demand. If the exit involves multiple units, start the term lender conversation early. This reduces the time you need to run down more expensive build finance and prevents the project from stalling at practical completion while new valuations and legal work are carried out. For mixed portfolios, again consider whether a portfolio mortgage would simplify management and reporting once stabilised.

Managing governance and partner risk

Most tensions in joint ventures arise not from the asset, but from misaligned expectations. Agree at the outset how profits will be distributed, what happens if costs rise, how further capital will be provided, and what triggers a forced sale or buyout. Clarify decision making rights for key matters such as refinancing, marketing strategy, and variations to the build. Set objective hurdles for profit share, for example a preferred return to equity, followed by a carry to the development manager once targets are reached. This clarity is not just good practice, it also reassures lenders that there is a disciplined approach to risk.

The broker’s role in a JV funding process

Specialist brokerage saves time and improves outcomes because each lender has different comfort zones on structure, leverage, and documentation. A broker who understands joint ventures will help you choose an ownership model that lenders favour, position the combined track record and balance sheets in the right light, and target the short list of funders most likely to provide the terms you want. They can coordinate valuations, legal work, and third party reports, and keep momentum so you do not run up costs on temporary funding. If you plan to refinance on completion, the same team can stage the handover to a term lender, which protects margin and frees capital for the next project.

How Willow Private Finance can help

At Willow Private Finance we act for JV partners at every stage of the project life cycle. We can shape your funding strategy before heads of terms are signed, identify senior and alternative lenders who are comfortable with your structure, and negotiate the details that matter, including covenants, step in rights, and conditions precedent. If your project is high value or complex, we can open doors to private banks that recognise broader wealth, liquidity and governance strength. If your focus is speed and a clean exit, we will engineer bridging or development facilities that dovetail with a term refinance once the asset is stabilised.

The objective is simple, reliable funding that supports delivery and protects return on equity.

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