Funding for UK construction businesses.
UK construction businesses face a specific finance pattern: high plant and vehicle costs, long debtor cycles from main contractors, and project-driven cashflow. The most common routes are asset finance for plant and vehicles (Lombard, Novuna, Propel, Simply Asset Finance), invoice finance against certified applications and unpaid invoices (Bibby, Skipton, Time Finance), and short-term working capital where retentions and pay-when-paid stretch cashflow. Bridging finance is also common for property development. Lendrly maps these specialisms so you can identify lenders comfortable with construction-sector underwriting.
Eligibility guidance only - not financial advice, not a loan offer, not a guarantee of approval. Lendrly is not FCA-authorised and is not a credit broker.
Snapshot
UK lender criteria matched
23
Across the four core finance types Lendrly profiles for this sector.
Core products covered
4
MCA · invoice finance · asset finance · unsecured loan.
Sector-specific deep dives
4
Per sector × product overlay pages with worked examples.
Lender appetite by product
How many UK lenders Lendrly tracks publish criteria that fit construction businesses, grouped by finance type. The appetite band is derived from the count of matching lenders, not from any forecast of approval. Approval is subject to lender underwriting.
Merchant Cash Advance
6 UK lenders match
- Typical amount
- £500–£1m; flexi up to £2m via partners; Up to 2x monthly revenue; £500–£100k
- Security / PG
- Often unsecured
- Speed to funding
- Minutes via partner; Offer <24h; funding ~48h
- Min revenue floor
- Not published
- Min trading history
- 3 months
Invoice Finance
6 UK lenders match
- Typical amount
- Up to 90% invoice advance; Up to 90% invoice advance; Up to 90% invoice advance
- Security / PG
- Typically secured
- Speed to funding
- Within 24h advertised; Often within 24h post invoice
- Min revenue floor
- Not published
- Min trading history
- No minimum stated
Asset Finance
6 UK lenders match
- Typical amount
- £25k+; £15k–£5m; £25k–£2.5m
- Security / PG
- Typically secured
- Speed to funding
- Contact within 1 working day
- Min revenue floor
- Not published
- Min trading history
- No minimum stated
Unsecured Business Loan
5 UK lenders match
- Typical amount
- £1k–£1m; £10k–£750k; £10k–£1m
- Security / PG
- Often unsecured
- Speed to funding
- Instant/same-day for many; Decision as fast as 1h; funds ~48h
- Min revenue floor
- £10,000 / month
- Min trading history
- No minimum stated
Illustrative published market rate ranges
Aggregated ranges from public UK lender pages, refreshed . These are not quotes and are not offered by Lendrly — pricing is set per-application by each lender at underwriting.
| Product | Unit | Low | Typical | High | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merchant cash advance | factor rate | 1.10 | 1.25 | 1.50 | Source |
| Unsecured business loan | representative APR | 8% | 15% | 30% | Source |
| Invoice finance | discount fee per 30 days + service fee | 0.5% + 0.2% | 1.8% + 1.0% | 4.0% + 3.0% | Source |
| Asset finance | representative APR | 4% | 8% | 12% | Source |
| Bridging finance | monthly rate (plus arrangement fee) | 0.5% | 0.8% | 1.2% | Source |
Merchant cash advance: Factor rate is a multiplier on the advance — not an APR. Total repayable = advance × factor. A £20,000 advance at 1.30 means £26,000 total repayable, settled as a fixed share of daily card sales.
Unsecured business loan: Representative APR for UK SME unsecured term loans varies materially with trading history, affordability and credit profile. The mid-band is a reasonable expectation for a 12-month-plus established UK limited company; pricing rises sharply with risk.
Invoice finance: Invoice finance is priced as a discount fee against the advance per 30 days outstanding plus a service fee on turnover. Spot / single-invoice products tend to sit at the higher end of the discount fee.
Asset finance: Hire purchase and finance lease pricing depends on asset type, age and resale liquidity. New, identifiable assets (vehicles, plant) sit at the lower end; soft assets (IT, fit-out) at the higher end.
Bridging finance: Bridging is priced per month, typically over a 6–12 month term, plus a 1.5–2% arrangement fee. The exit strategy and LTV drive the rate. Light refurb sits at the lower end; heavy or unregulated bridges at the higher end.
Speed to funding
6 of the lenders Lendrly tracks for this profile publish same-day or minutes-after-decision funding for established applicants, and 5 publish funding within a few business days. Actual time to funds depends on documentation, affordability checks and underwriting workload.
Bad credit and CCJs
Construction businesses with active CCJs, recent arrears or insolvency markers will face a narrower lender list — most mainstream UK SME lenders treat unsatisfied CCJs as a hard decline. Specialist sub-prime and merchant cash advance providers can sometimes look past historic adverse credit when trading is strong. See our eligibility guide on business finance with bad credit and the eligibility scenario for CCJs for the lender shortlist Lendrly tracks for these cases.
Islamic finance options
UK SME borrowers seeking Sharia-compliant finance can look at the lenders below. Product mix is typically commercial property finance and asset finance via murabaha or ijara structures. Profit rates broadly mirror conventional rates of equivalent risk.
Frequently asked questions
- What finance options do UK construction businesses typically use?
- UK construction businesses commonly use a combination of merchant cash advance, invoice finance, asset finance and unsecured business loans depending on the use of funds. Merchant Cash Advance usually has the strongest UK lender appetite for this sector — 6 of the lenders Lendrly tracks publish criteria that fit. Final fit is subject to lender underwriting.
- How many UK lenders cover construction in the Lendrly database?
- Across the four core finance types Lendrly profiles for this sector, around 23 unique UK lender criteria-sets currently match. The full lender library lists every provider Lendrly tracks; this hub surfaces only the products and lenders that publish criteria consistent with construction businesses.
- What is the minimum trading history for construction business finance?
- The most permissive lender Lendrly tracks for this sector publishes a no minimum trading-history floor. Most other lenders prefer 6 to 12 months minimum.
- Can construction businesses with bad credit get UK SME finance?
- Construction businesses with active CCJs, recent arrears or insolvency markers will face a narrower lender list — most mainstream UK SME lenders treat unsatisfied CCJs as a hard decline. Specialist sub-prime and merchant cash advance providers can sometimes look past historic adverse credit when trading is strong. See our eligibility guide on business finance with bad credit and the eligibility scenario for CCJs for the lender shortlist Lendrly tracks for these cases.
- What about Islamic-finance options for construction businesses?
- Several UK lenders offer Sharia-compliant SME finance under murabaha or ijara structures, including Al Rayan Bank, Gatehouse Bank, BLME, ADIB UK and Qardus. The product mix is typically commercial property finance and asset finance; merchant cash advance is rarely available in Islamic structure. See our Islamic finance hub for details.
- What are the typical fees and rates for construction business finance?
- Pricing depends on the product. Merchant cash advance is priced as a factor rate (typically 1.10–1.50). Invoice finance combines a discount fee per 30 days outstanding and a service fee on turnover. Term loans, asset finance and commercial mortgages are priced as APR. The illustrative ranges on this page are aggregated from public UK lender pages — actual pricing is set per-application by the lender at underwriting.
See which lenders fit your construction business
The eligibility checker takes about two minutes. Educational guidance only — Lendrly does not submit applications and is not a regulated credit broker.
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Important — educational guidance only
- Not regulated by the FCA and not a credit broker.
- Not financial, legal or tax advice.
- Not a loan offer and not a guarantee of approval.
- Subject to lender underwriting — criteria can change.
Lendrly provides general eligibility guidance only. It is not financial advice, a loan offer, or a guarantee of approval. Provider criteria can change and final approval is subject to lender underwriting, affordability checks, credit assessment, and documentation. Lendrly is not a regulated credit broker; we do not submit applications on your behalf.