We had a reason to take stock last month, as March 2026 marks the fifth anniversary of the launch of Precede Capital Partners.
When we founded the business in 2021, we wanted to build a platform with responsible lending at its core and one that catered to the needs of ambitious real estate projects — specifically those offering new, high-quality homes in communities where demand for housing is rapidly outstripping supply.
Five years later, we have financed some incredible schemes across the country, expanded our product offering, bolstered our ESG credentials and contributed to the development of transformative projects up and down the country.
And we’ve done all of this while operating against a backdrop of remarkable market uncertainty. Founded in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, conditions have been defined by disruption: four UK Prime Ministers, volatile economic environments, and an evolving geopolitical landscape spanning trade tensions, the Russia–Ukraine conflict, and instability in the Middle East, most recently.
A lot has happened in five years, so I thought I’d share some reflections on the progress we’ve made to date and the direction in which we’re headed.
Building our development loan portfolio
Over the past five years, we have deployed and managed a cumulative £2 billion in development and bridging loans. This funding has helped deliver over 4,000 new homes, which equate to over 2.5 million square feet of residential real estate.
Our first loan, extended back in October 2021, was a £76 million facility, funded in partnership with Carlyle and Apollo, to finance the redevelopment of Empire House, a vacant office block in Chiswick, West London, into a BTR scheme. The project, led by Great Marlborough Estates, delivered 137 new homes to the area and provided 9,000 square feet of retail and leisure space split across two units. Precede also assisted the developers with a stabilisation bridging loan for the project.
Since then, we have continued to grow our development loan portfolio significantly, funding schemes across the country.
Every project in our portfolio is a key part of Precede’s journey, but a few stand out as real milestones.
In June 2022, in partnership with Carlyle, Apollo and Crosstree, we provided our largest loan to date – a £772 million loan to finance One Nine Elms, a residential development split across two towers, including a five-star Park Hyatt hotel and Park Hyatt-branded apartments.
In January 2023, in partnership with Nomura, we announced our inaugural deal outside of London – a £228 million loan to finance First Street in Manchester.
Then, in February 2024, in partnership with QuadReal, we delivered our inaugural development loan for a modular construction project – a £105 million green loan, to fund the development of Enclave Acton in London.
Bridging the gap
In October 2024, in response to growing market demand for short-term capital solutions, either pre- or post-development, we launched a bridging loan product. This expansion of our offering was made possible by how we have set up our business – we are lean and agile and, therefore, very good at quickly adapting to shifting market demand.
Since then, in partnership with LCM Partners, we have closed nearly £100 million in bridging loan facilities, details of which can be found on our website.
Maintaining our core values
Over the past five years, we’ve deployed significant capital while remaining committed to ESG and responsible business practices.
Social and environmental values are embedded into our business strategy, and we are wholly committed to doing our bit to deliver a more sustainable built environment.
Highlights to date include developing a proprietary Green Loan product and designing our own bespoke ESG scorecard system in collaboration with Longevity and Seismic. This commitment was recognised in December 2023, when we received B Corp certification. At the time, this made us one of fewer than 40 firms in the UK’s real estate sector to achieve this.
Amid a market environment characterised by geopolitical and regulatory uncertainty, ESG considerations can easily fade into the background. Over the past five years, challenging conditions have understandably shifted industry focus at times, but as a business, we have remained consistent in treating ESG as a priority.
Looking ahead
We are extremely proud of that impact – but it’s just the beginning. Our future pipeline is strong, and we are excited about the upcoming transactions we are working on. We have the flexibility, capital and appetite to finance UK residential and commercial real estate projects at every stage of their lifecycle.
With circa £900 million worth of development and bridge loans in our pipeline, it’s safe to say we’re busy and excited about the future.
Building and scaling a business this quickly, all while staying true to our core values, would have been impossible without our outstanding team.
The group of people we’ve assembled at Precede are among the most talented and committed I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.
I have absolutely no doubt that we’ll have even more progress to share in our sixth year and beyond.
