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For many family offices, prime residential property represents a significant proportion of total net worth. London townhouses, Parisian apartments, Côte d’Azur villas, and Monaco residences are often held mortgage-free, reflecting a long-standing preference for capital preservation, privacy, and intergenerational security.
However, in 2025, holding large volumes of unleveraged residential equity is increasingly viewed as inefficient. Global investment opportunities move quickly, and liquidity trapped in property can limit a family office’s ability to act decisively across private equity, structured credit, operating businesses, or strategic acquisitions.
Rather than selling assets, sophisticated families are increasingly using prime residential property as security to unlock global investment liquidity. This approach allows capital to be released while maintaining ownership, control, and long-term exposure to core property holdings.
Willow Private Finance works with family offices, private banks, and specialist lenders to structure these facilities carefully—ensuring liquidity supports broader investment objectives without introducing unnecessary risk or complexity.
This guide explains how prime residential assets are used as security in 2025, how lenders assess these structures, and why expert structuring is essential.
From a lender’s perspective, prime residential property sits at the top of the security hierarchy. Assets in established global centres such as London, Paris, Geneva, and Monaco are highly liquid, resilient in downturns, and supported by deep buyer demand.
For family offices, these properties are typically unencumbered, professionally maintained, and held for the long term. This combination makes them particularly attractive as collateral for liquidity facilities.
Crucially, lenders assess these assets not as lifestyle purchases, but as balance-sheet anchors. Prime residential property provides stable collateral that can support borrowing deployed far beyond the property market itself.
In 2025, private banks increasingly differentiate between speculative property exposure and legacy residential holdings. The latter are often viewed as defensive assets capable of supporting conservative, flexible lending structures.
The primary appeal of using residential property as security is optionality. Family offices can unlock liquidity without selling assets, triggering tax events, or disrupting long-term ownership structures.
Selling prime residential property is rarely efficient. Transactions can be slow, markets can be illiquid at the top end, and disposals may undermine long-term family strategy or succession planning.
By contrast, property-backed liquidity facilities allow capital to be accessed quickly and deployed globally—often within weeks rather than months—while preserving exposure to core holdings.
This approach is particularly attractive where liquidity is required temporarily or opportunistically, such as funding private equity commitments, bridging capital calls, or supporting short-to-medium-term investment strategies.
At a structural level, lenders provide facilities secured against one or more prime residential assets. These may be bilateral loans, revolving credit facilities, or bespoke liquidity lines embedded within a broader private banking relationship.
Borrowing is rarely maximised. Loan-to-value ratios typically range from 30% to 50%, even where assets are entirely unencumbered. The emphasis is on balance-sheet efficiency rather than leverage.
Facilities may be structured in a single jurisdiction or across multiple assets, allowing portfolio-level security rather than reliance on one property. In many cases, borrowing is raised in one jurisdiction and deployed internationally, subject to tax and currency considerations.
Importantly, these facilities are often interest-only, with flexible repayment terms designed to align with investment horizons rather than residential affordability metrics.
One of the defining features of these structures is that capital raised against residential property is rarely used for further property acquisition.
Instead, liquidity is deployed globally across private equity, venture capital, structured credit, operating businesses, or strategic acquisitions. In some cases, funds are used to recapitalise family enterprises or support intergenerational transitions.
Lenders are increasingly comfortable with this approach, provided the borrower profile is strong and overall leverage remains conservative. The focus is on asset quality, liquidity buffers, and governance rather than income generation.
This reflects a broader shift in how private banks view residential property—less as a consumption asset and more as a balance-sheet stabiliser capable of supporting wider investment activity.
While the concept is straightforward, execution varies significantly by jurisdiction.
In the UK, private banks offer the greatest flexibility, with a wide range of structures available for prime residential assets. However, valuation scrutiny has intensified, particularly for super-prime property, and lenders are increasingly cautious around source-of-wealth transparency.
France introduces additional complexity. While lender security is strong, notarial processes, documentation requirements, and tax structuring must be managed carefully, particularly where assets are held through non-French entities.
Monaco operates on a relationship-led model. Lending against residential property is often embedded within a broader private banking mandate, with conservative leverage but attractive flexibility for established clients.
Successful structures account for these differences and avoid forcing a single-jurisdiction solution onto a multi-jurisdiction portfolio.
When using residential property as security, lenders are not simply underwriting bricks and mortar.
Asset quality remains critical, but equal weight is placed on liquidity outside property, governance, and borrower intent. Family offices with diversified balance sheets and professional oversight are viewed very differently from borrowers relying solely on property values.
Lenders also assess how the facility will be used. Borrowing to support investment deployment or portfolio optimisation is generally viewed positively. Borrowing driven by cashflow stress or opaque objectives attracts greater scrutiny.
This distinction is central to why family offices can access flexible terms at conservative leverage levels.
Despite favourable lender appetite, risk management remains paramount.
Currency exposure must be considered where borrowing and deployment occur in different currencies. Hedging strategies should be integrated from the outset, not treated as an afterthought.
Facilities should also be structured with maturity alignment in mind. Short-term liquidity needs should not be funded with inflexible long-dated debt, and vice versa.
Finally, concentration risk should be avoided. Over-reliance on a single asset or lender can constrain future flexibility and limit strategic options.
Consider a family office holding an unencumbered £25 million London townhouse alongside a diversified global investment portfolio.
Rather than selling property to fund a private equity opportunity, a private bank facility is secured at 40% LTV against the London asset. The borrowing is structured as an interest-only facility with flexible repayment terms.
Liquidity is deployed into the investment opportunity, while the property remains fully under family ownership. No forced sale, no disruption to long-term planning, and no loss of exposure to prime residential markets.
This is increasingly how sophisticated families view residential property—as a liquidity anchor rather than a static asset.
Can prime residential property be used as security to fund investments outside property?
Yes. Many family offices and ultra-high-net-worth individuals use prime residential property as collateral to release liquidity for private equity, operating businesses, private credit, infrastructure and other investment opportunities without selling their long-term property assets.
Why is prime residential property attractive to private banks as security?
Prime residential assets in locations such as London, Paris, Monaco and the French Riviera are viewed as high-quality collateral because they typically benefit from strong long-term demand, resilient values and established international buyer markets. These characteristics make them well suited to conservative lending structures.
How much can I typically borrow against prime residential property?
Most private banks and specialist lenders will generally lend between
30% and 50% loan-to-value, depending on the quality of the property, ownership structure, jurisdiction and the borrower's wider financial position. Conservative leverage is usually preferred to maximise long-term flexibility.
Can I unlock liquidity without selling my property?
Yes. Property-backed lending allows you to access capital while retaining ownership of the asset. This enables family offices to preserve long-term investment and succession strategies while deploying capital into new opportunities when required.
What types of lending facilities are available against prime residential property?
Facilities may include interest-only mortgages, revolving credit facilities, bespoke liquidity lines or portfolio lending secured against multiple residential assets. The most appropriate structure depends on your investment objectives, liquidity requirements and wider wealth strategy.
Can funds released from UK property be invested internationally?
Yes. Subject to lender requirements, tax advice and currency considerations, capital raised against UK residential property can often be deployed globally into investments, acquisitions or business opportunities. Many family offices use UK property as a stable balance-sheet asset to support international investment strategies.
What do lenders look for when assessing these borrowing structures?
Lenders assess far more than the property's value. They consider the borrower's overall wealth, governance, source of wealth, liquidity position, ownership structures, intended use of funds and the long-term sustainability of the borrowing. A clearly defined investment strategy generally strengthens the application.
Are there additional considerations when using property in different countries as security?
Yes. Cross-border lending introduces legal, tax and currency considerations that vary between jurisdictions. The UK, France and Monaco all have different lending practices, security requirements and documentation processes, making specialist structuring particularly important for international portfolios.
What are the biggest risks when borrowing against prime residential property?
The main risks include excessive leverage, poor currency management, relying on a single lender, and failing to align the loan term with the investment being funded. Conservative structuring and professional advice help minimise these risks while preserving future flexibility.
How can Willow Private Finance help with property-backed liquidity solutions?
Willow Private Finance works with private banks and specialist lenders to structure bespoke lending facilities secured against prime residential property. We help family offices unlock liquidity efficiently while ensuring the finance complements wider investment, governance, tax and succession planning objectives.
Whether you're funding private equity investments, supporting business growth, restructuring your balance sheet or simply improving capital efficiency, Willow Private Finance can help you structure a bespoke property-backed lending solution that preserves long-term ownership while providing access to strategic liquidity.

Contact our specialist team today for a confidential discussion about using your prime residential property to support your wider wealth and investment strategy.
Tailored advice for individuals, businesses and professional advisers seeking sophisticated financial solutions.
At Willow Private Finance, we understand that every client has different ambitions, financial circumstances and long-term objectives. Whether you are purchasing property, refinancing existing borrowing, protecting your family or business, or looking to unlock wealth through specialist lending, we build solutions around your individual needs rather than forcing you into standard products.
As an independent, whole-of-market brokerage, we provide access to residential mortgages, buy-to-let finance, bridging loans, development finance, commercial lending, private banking and Lombard lending facilities, alongside a comprehensive range of personal and business protection solutions. Our expertise extends to UK and international clients, high-net-worth individuals, company directors, investors, expatriates and borrowers with complex financial structures.
By combining deep technical expertise with relationships across mainstream lenders, specialist lenders and private banks, we help clients secure funding, structure borrowing efficiently and protect the assets, income and people that matter most. Whatever stage of your financial journey you are at, our team is here to provide clear, strategic advice that delivers confidence and long-term value.
About the Author
Wesley Ranger is the Director of Willow Private Finance and has over 20 years of experience advising high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients on complex property finance. He specialises in private bank lending, portfolio-level structuring, and liquidity solutions for family offices with international asset bases. Wesley works closely with legal, tax, and investment advisers to ensure lending decisions support long-term balance-sheet strategy.
Important Notice
This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute personal financial advice. Using residential property as security for borrowing involves legal, tax, and regulatory considerations that vary by jurisdiction and individual circumstance.
Mortgage availability, loan-to-value limits, and lending terms are subject to change and depend on detailed lender assessment. Always seek tailored advice before entering into any financial arrangement.
Willow Private Finance Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA No. 588422). Registered in England and Wales.
