United Trust Bank review 2026, bridging, development and structured property finance from a 1955 bank

Who United Trust Bank are

The Companies House record for United Trust Bank Limited (00549690) shows incorporation on 23 May 1955 under the name Eagil Trust Co. Limited, with the United Trust Bank name first adopted on 1 July 1994. The about page tells the rest: the bank was set up as a specialist lender providing development finance to SME house-builders after the war, it was bought by the Anglo-Dutch bank Insinger de Beaufort in 2001, and in 2004 Graham Davin, Harley Kagan and Roger Tidyman led a management buy-out that took it private and restored the original name. Companies House records the Bank Insinger de Beaufort names between October 2001 and May 2004.

The loan book was £10m at the buy-out. By December 2024 it stood at £3.5bn, with total assets passing £2bn in 2021 and deposits passing £2bn in 2022. The bank lists memberships of UK Finance, the Finance and Leasing Association, the Bridging and Development Lenders Association and the Open Property Data Association, and it was named Specialist Bank of the Year at the Bridging and Commercial Awards in 2016, 2018 and 2019. Its regulatory information page states that United Trust Bank Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the PRA under Financial Services Register number 204463. The FCA Register, checked on 21 September 2026, shows the firm as Authorised since 1 December 2001 against company number 00549690, and the entry can be read at register.fca.org.uk.

What United Trust Bank lends

Bridging runs from £100,000 to £5m. The regulated product goes to 12 months and the unregulated product to 24 months, both at up to 75% LTV, secured on residential, HMO and mixed use property or on property being converted into one of those. First, second and combination charges are all written, light and heavy refurbishment projects are named on the page, and the purposes the bank lists include an auction purchase, a gap between buying one property and selling another, improvement or conversion works, and restructuring a portfolio to release capital. Land with planning is considered case by case.

Property development finance is a separate desk with five named products, each from £1m to £35m: acquisition finance at up to 60% LTV, development finance at up to 70% loan to gross development value, development exit funding at up to 75% LTV, and build to rent and student housing finance at up to 65% loan to gross development value. The page says the bank holds commitments in the region of £1.5bn and supports more than 4,000 new homes at any one time, across new build housing, residential-led mixed use, conversions and refurbishment, purpose built student accommodation and purpose built rental homes in England and Wales. That desk is the direct descendant of the 1955 business, and it is where a plot bought on a development finance exit tends to end up.

Structured property finance starts at £2.5m with a term of up to 5 years and a choice of rolled up or serviced interest. The security list is wide: single and multi-unit residential, HMOs, commercial and mixed use property, offices, land, hotels and mixed portfolios, for site acquisition, planning gain projects, portfolio restructuring, refinancing and capital release. The bank says it assesses each case on its merits. Alongside these sit residential, buy-to-let and second charge mortgages, the second charge line running from £10,000 to £1,000,000 at up to 90% LTV through intermediaries only, and an asset finance desk writing hire purchase, finance lease and refinance on vehicles, plant and machinery through approved brokers.

Who United Trust Bank lends to

The bridging page names individual, corporate and trust borrowers, and says the bank can lend to LLPs, SPVs, trusts, SIPPs and offshore companies with limited personal guarantees in place. Security must be in England, Wales or mainland Scotland. There must always be a realistic exit, though the page is clear it does not have to be in place when the loan draws down, and regulated borrowers are told they need advice on the most suitable option from a mortgage intermediary before they apply.

Development finance is written for housebuilders and specialist developers, and the bank describes partnerships with government agencies including Homes England and the British Business Bank. Structured property finance is described as non-regulated and aimed at corporations and trusts with complex ownership structures, property investors and developers, high net worth individuals, and both onshore and offshore borrowers. On the second charge side the page sets a maximum of 2 applicants, a maximum age of 85 and room for complex income, including the self-employed and contractors.

Property-secured finance arranged through us is for UK limited companies and LLPs, so the unregulated bridging, structured and development lines are the ones an enquiry to us can reach. A regulated bridge on someone's own home, or a second charge on it, is a different conversation and one the bank routes through a mortgage intermediary.

How an application runs

A bridging case starts with what the bank calls a completed one page quick enquiry form. From there it says loans can complete within two weeks of the initial enquiry, with a Fast Track process for certain applications, dual legal representation available, and automated and desktop valuations used where they fit. Interest is retained over the term rather than paid monthly, which is the ordinary shape of a bridge.

On development finance the timings are published in hours rather than weeks: a relationship manager reviews the proposal within 24 hours, and a Credit Committee decision with a formal offer letter follows within 48 hours. Structured property finance gives each customer a dedicated relationship manager from proposal to completion. Asset finance takes applications only through approved asset finance brokers.

Through us the security, the amount and the exit go in front of United Trust Bank and the rest of the panel at the same time, packaged once by a named case handler. We arrange the finance and the bank makes every lending decision itself. Enquiring does not affect your credit score.

Our panel and United Trust Bank

At September 2026 our catalogue held 20 live United Trust Bank products: 11 bridging products sized £100,000 to £15m over 1 month to 2 years, 6 secured loan products sized £10,000 to £500,000 over 3 years to 30 years, 2 commercial property products sized £2.5m to £35m, and 1 development finance product sized £1m to £10m. The commercial span begins at the £2.5m floor the bank prints for structured property finance. Each span is per category and describes what we hold at that date rather than an offer, and panel composition changes.

For context, at September 2026 we counted 22 lender brands on the panel writing second charge bridging, 35 funding heavy refurbishment and 26 using automated valuations, and 27 development lenders considering planning gain. United Trust Bank's combination charges, heavy refurbishment line and desktop valuations place it in the first three. Those are counts of brands with at least one live product, and they say nothing about which lender a given case suits.