Brokers and professional investors carried out almost 24,000 funding searches worth more than £70bn across specialist property finance in 2025, underlining sustained demand despite a cautious lending environment.
New data from digital lending marketplace Brickflow shows that £1.2bn of searched loan value progressed to approval, pointing to a market defined by selectivity and structure rather than a lack of appetite.
Brokers increasingly utilised technology to test lender criteria, pricing and deal viability before progressing cases.
Development finance is dominated by value, accounting for the largest share of total property value searched across the year. Demand peaked mid-year, with June recording a sharp confidence spike, as development finance searches exceeded £6.2bn in a single month, driving total monthly search volume to nearly £8.8bn, the highest level recorded on the platform in 2025.
By contrast, bridging finance for purchase and refinance was the most consistently searched product type by volume throughout the year, reinforcing its role as a core planning and execution tool rather than a short-term stopgap.
Monthly bridging searches regularly exceeded 1,000, reflecting continued reliance on flexible capital to manage timing and transaction complexity.
Overall search volumes moderated in the second half of the year, but deal size and intent remained robust. Fewer but larger, more deliberate searches later in 2025, particularly in December, signalled a shift post-Budget and in the run-up to the festive period.
"Digital marketplaces like Brickflow are where this discovery process increasingly happens," said Frazer Campbell, chief revenue officer and co-founder at Brickflow (pictured).
"They allow brokers to move faster once the right lender fit is found and enable lenders to focus on well-packaged opportunities that genuinely match their criteria."
Brickflow's data also points to growing platform adoption, with repeat broker usage remaining high throughout the year. As competition for well-structured deals intensifies, Brickflow is increasingly acting as the converging point between demand, lender appetite and execution across development finance, bridging and commercial lending.
