Kent Development Exit Report, H1 2026
Who is lending to developers in Kent, how many schemes are exiting their development loans, and how quickly new homes are selling. Built from Companies House charges, Land Registry sales and council planning data.
The biggest move in Kent over the year to June 2026: registered new-build sales dropped 26.9% to 2,065 over the latest settled year. Meanwhile development loans filed as repaid climbed 16.2% to 122. The age of the local development book stands out: 56.1% of live charges are older than two years, against 60.6% for England and Wales. 1,845 residential approvals over the latest 12 months (partial coverage, 92%) set up the pipeline that will need refinancing next.
Kent at a glance
How each signal moved over the year, measured the same way for every location we report on.
| Signal | Kent | Change | Basis | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New development charges | 344 | +4.6% | 12 months to June 2026 vs the 12 months before | Flat |
| Development charges satisfied (exits filed) | 122 | +16.2% | 12 months to June 2026 vs the 12 months before; recent filings provisional | Up |
| Exit-type lending to developers | 218 | +9.5% | bridging, specialist-bank and private-credit charges on development companies | Up |
| Live development book over 24 months old | 56.1% | -4.5 pts | at 30 June 2026, compared with 60.6% across England and Wales | Below national |
| New-build sales registered | 2,065 | -26.9% | settled 12 months (registration lag allowed for) vs the 12 months before | Down |
| New developer and property companies | 1,687 | -0.7% | SIC 41100, 41202, 68100 by registered office; live register only | Flat |
Development lending and exits in Kent
Development lenders registered 344 new charges against sites and developers in Kent in the 12 months to June 2026, against 329 in the 12 months before (+4.6%). Those charges were taken by 196 separate borrowing companies.
On the other side of the ledger, 122 development loans were filed as repaid: 0.35 repayments per new loan (England and Wales: 0.4). Lending is outrunning exits.
The median development loan repaid in the year ran 26 months from registration to repayment, against 20.9 months a year earlier.
A charge is the security a lender registers at Companies House. It shows that a loan was taken and when it was repaid (satisfied), not how much was lent. Repayments are filed late, so the latest six months are provisional.
Companies House charge register, Construction Capital analysis
Bridging and specialist lending to Kent developers
The exit and refinance market in Kent registered 218 charges on development companies over the latest year, up 9.5% from 199.
Most came from bridging lenders (117). Comparing half-years, 110 in H1 2026 against 102 in H1 2025.
Exit-type lending counts charges registered by bridging lenders, specialist banks and private credit funds against companies whose registered business is developing buildings (SIC 41100 or 41202). It is the market that refinances development debt at completion and funds the sales period.
Companies House charge register, Construction Capital analysis
Who is lending in Kent
Specialist money (bridging, specialist banks, development lenders and funds) accounted for 88.6% of matched property charges in Kent, compared with 88.4% for England and Wales. That is close to the national mix.
Lenders are grouped by category from the Construction Capital lender register and never named.
Companies House charge register, Construction Capital analysis
How quickly new homes are selling
New-build completions registered in Kent came to 2,065 over the latest settled year (to July 2025), down 26.9% from 2,826. New-build made up 7.6% of all sales (8.3% nationally).
New-build flats sold at a median £304,995, 52.5% above existing flats; new-build houses at £431,500, 18.2% above existing houses.
All residential sales totalled 26,778 in the settled 12 months to January 2026 (+7.3% on the year before).
Land Registry registers new-build plot sales up to a year after completion, so new-build figures use the latest settled 12 months. Prices are transaction-sample medians, not a like-for-like index.
HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, Construction Capital analysis
The next wave of schemes needing an exit
Between 20 September 2025 and 21 September 2026, 1,845 residential applications were approved (630 other relevant, 429 conversion, 380 new build) and 973 awaited a decision.
Where an approval states units (682 of them), they add up to at least 6,418 homes.
Not yet covered: Swale.
Residential applications from council planning portals over each council's latest 12-month window. Unit counts are only stated on some applications, so unit totals are a floor.
| Largest approved schemes (stated units) | Units | Type | Decided |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land South Of Burrfield Drive Waldens Road Orpington | 350 | other residential | 2026-04-27 |
| Land Part Of Manor Farm Lower Hayesden Lane Tonbridge Kent | 314 | new build | 2026-06-17 |
| Land And Buildings On The North West Side Of Shottendane Road Margate Kent | 312 | other residential | 2025-11-28 |
| Land At Ufton Court Farm Tunstall Sittingbourne Kent Me10 1xf | 290 | new build | 2025-09-24 |
| Phases 2 And 3 Land East Of Lowfield Street Dartford Kent | 280 | other residential | 2026-06-26 |
New developer companies
Company formation is an early pipeline signal: 1,687 new property and development companies in Kent over the latest year, 733 registered as developers (SIC 41100 or 41202).
H1 2026 brought 863 against 996 in H1 2025.
Companies registered with SIC 41100, 41202 or 68100, placed by registered office. The register lists live companies only, so earlier periods lose companies since dissolved.
Kent against England and Wales
| Measure | Kent | Change | England and Wales | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New development charges, 12 months | 344 | +4.6% | 9,544 | +11.7% |
| Development charges satisfied, 12 months | 122 | +16.2% | 3,785 | +21.1% |
| Live development book at 30 June 2026 | 1,407 | 41,855 | ||
| Share of live book over 24 months old | 56.1% | 60.6% | ||
| Exit-type lending to developers, 12 months | 218 | +9.5% | 5,241 | +3.4% |
| New-build sales, settled 12 months | 2,065 | -26.9% | 68,506 | -6.1% |
| New-build share of sales, settled 12 months | 7.6% | 8.3% | ||
| New developer and property companies, 12 months | 1,687 | -0.7% | 61,275 | +7% |
What this means for developers exiting in Kent
Up: loan repayments, exit-type lending. Down: new-build sales.
A younger book means fewer schemes in distress, but a wave of completions to come. Lining up exit terms before practical completion keeps options open.
Slower new-build sales stretch the time between completion and the last sale, which is the gap exit finance is designed to cover.
Terms depend on the scheme, the sales evidence and the developer, and no finance is guaranteed. We are a finance broker, not a lender. Development exit finance for companies is unregulated lending.
Read how a development exit loan is sized, or compare the national picture in the Development Exit Demand Tracker. Local market detail sits on our development exit finance in Kent page.
Methodology and sources
Companies House charges (security instruments, not loans: no amounts, LTVs or rates). Development lending = charges held by specialist development lenders, or by development-active mixed lenders where the borrower carries SIC 41100/41202, the charge wording names development land or a site, or the borrower is a newly incorporated (within 12 months) SIC 68100 company with no buy-to-let SIC (the same rule as the national Development Exit Demand Tracker). Exit-type lending to developers = charges registered by bridging, specialist-bank and private-credit (funder) lenders against companies carrying SIC 41100/41202. A charge is placed by its charged-property postcode, or failing that the borrower's registered office. 'Satisfied' is the filed repayment of a charge: the exit. Exit refinance events are new charges registered on the same title after a specialist development lender's charge was repaid or released (charge stacks, same-group and same-company pairs excluded). Satisfactions are filed late, so the most recent six months are provisional and will rise. Lender categories come from the Construction Capital lender register; lenders are never named.
Land Registry registers new-build plot sales up to a year after completion, so new-build counts, shares and premiums are read only over the settled 12 months ending a year before the data vintage (settled12m) and compared with the 12 months before that. New-build figures in the most recent windows are incomplete and are not used for any headline. HMLR Price Paid, standard (category A) residential sales (detached, semi, terraced, flat) in the location's local authorities. New-build premium compares the median new-build price with the median existing-stock price within flats and within houses; it is a transaction-sample median, not a constant-quality index. Registrations lag completions by weeks to months, so the most recent months (and new-build plots especially) understate final counts; trailing-12-month figures are the steadier read.
Residential planning applications (new build, conversion, prior approval, mixed use, HMO, demolition and rebuild) from the Construction Capital council-portal scrapes, one record set per authority, over each council's rolling 12-month scrape window. Unit counts are stated only on some applications, so totals undercount. Councils not yet scraped are listed as missing, never estimated.
New companies with SIC 41100, 41202 or 68100 by registered-office postcode. The register snapshot holds live companies only, so earlier windows lose companies since dissolved; read year-on-year change as indicative.
Data vintage: charges registered to 2026-07-31, satisfactions filed to 2026-08-03, company register snapshot 2026-08-01, Land Registry transactions to 2026-07-31. Area covered: Ashford, Canterbury, Dartford, Dover, Folkestone And Hythe, Gravesham, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Swale, Thanet, Tonbridge And Malling, Tunbridge Wells, Medway (local authority boundaries). Minimum sample 30. 6 cuts suppressed for sample size.
Sources: Companies House charge register, Construction Capital analysis; HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, Construction Capital analysis; Council planning portals, Construction Capital planning scrape. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Companies House data is public and reused under the Open Government Licence.
You are welcome to cite or chart these figures with a link to this page.
Development exit in Kent: common questions
How much development lending is there in Kent?
Development lenders registered 344 new charges in Kent in the 12 months to June 2026 (+4.6% on the year before), taken by 196 companies. It counts loans taken, not their value.
Are development schemes in Kent overrunning?
At 30 June 2026, 56.1% of live development charges in Kent were over 24 months old (England and Wales: 60.6%). Charges that old usually sit on schemes past their original term.
What is development exit finance?
A short-term loan taken at or near practical completion. It repays the development lender and funds the sales or letting period, often at a lower rate than the development loan it replaces, and can release equity for the next scheme. Our development exit finance page covers how it is sized and priced.
Where does this data come from?
Companies House charges and company registrations, HM Land Registry Price Paid Data and council planning portals, all analysed by Construction Capital. Figures below the minimum sample of 30 are suppressed, and lenders are grouped into categories rather than named.
Other reports in South East
Completing a scheme in Kent?
Send us the scheme, the current facility and the sales position and we will give a view on the exit options and indicative terms.