Development Finance Market Barometer, H1 2026

The England and Wales property market is characterised by 580,488 residential house sales in the past 12 months across 48 counties. The national median house price stands at £291,125, with an average year-on-year price change of -0.8%.

Of towns with meaningful transaction volumes, 149 are recording house price growth and 196 are seeing declines. New build activity accounts for 6,896 of 580,488 total sales (1.2%).

This report is built from HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, the same transaction-level source underlying the official UK House Price Index, covering house prices and sales across England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland use separate registration systems (Registers of Scotland and Land and Property Services) and are not included in this analysis.

London & South East leads by transaction volume with 203,231 sales across 10 counties, at a median price of £396,250 and -0.4% average year-on-year change.

Across 44 counties with planning data (Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Bristol, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cardiff, Cheshire, Cornwall, County Durham, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, East Riding Of Yorkshire, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Greater London, Greater Manchester, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Newport, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Powys, Shropshire, Somerset, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, Swansea, Tyne And Wear, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, Worcestershire), the development pipeline contains 8,160 relevant applications with an estimated total GDV of £13.3bn and 41,287 residential units.

This pipeline signals continued developer confidence and sustained demand for development finance across the South East and East of England in particular.

Development finance lenders are broadly active, with appetite strongest in regions showing stable or growing prices. Senior debt is typically available at 60–70% LTV (of GDV) for experienced developers, with rates from 7–10% per annum depending on scheme risk.

For first-time developers or higher-risk schemes, mezzanine finance can bridge the gap between senior debt and equity, enabling projects to proceed with less personal capital. Bridging loans remain the go-to product for site acquisition ahead of planning or development finance drawdown.

The data in this barometer is drawn from Land Registry transaction records and local authority planning portals. For developers looking to capitalise on current market conditions, Construction Capital provides access to 100+ development finance lenders.

Submit your scheme via our deal room for a no-obligation quote, or explore our development finance page to understand the options available.