Lendology CIC is a B Corp, social enterprise lender, working in partnership with local councils across the UK. Working with council partners, we provide access to low cost, responsible finance. We make our lending decisions with people, for people and put impact before profit.
We have been lending funds on behalf of councils since 2005 and specialise in lending to owner occupiers, landlords, and empty property owners. Ultimately, our aim is to support local councils with incentivising investment in private sector housing.
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, Lendology manage the whole loan application from assessment, approval, paperwork and direct debit collections. Our comprehensive reporting suite ensures each council has full oversight of their funds.
We disrupt traditional lending with our decisions powered by partnerships and people, enriching homes and lives through responsible finance.
We specialise in lending to people who may be excluded from mainstream credit, as well as the “able-to-pay” market looking to invest in renewable energy measures.
We offer a longer than average loan term and a range of loan products to support people with limited incomes. There are no early repayment charges and council funds are protected by a Title Restriction at the Land Registry, meaning that funds are repaid on sale of the property.
We work with local energy advice and other not-for-profit organisations to create meaningful referral networks.
Renewable Energy Loans for climate retrofit measures
Empty Property Loans to bring empty properties back into use
Home Improvement Loans for general repairs
Disabled Facilities Loans to top-up DFGs and support independent living at home
Landlord Loans to support Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES)
Lendology lends capital provided by its council partners. To set up a loan scheme, the minimum capital investment is £300,000 per year.
The interest rate is set by you.
“It’s a really beneficial partnership and solution to the provision of funding for the renewal and improvement of local housing stock.”
North Somerset Council
We currently work with the following councils who would be happy to discuss how the partnership works and their successes to date with you. A broad range of districts and boroughs, we understand the housing challenges in urban and rural areas.
We partner with local and unitary authorities, fund managers and other organisations to support home improvements, the climate agenda, and socio-economic housing solutions.
Our current council partners recognize the value of their investment in the Lendology loan scheme. Partnerships support improving private sector housing stock across diverse communities.
“Cost effective, focused and innovative partner developing and delivering a range of offers that as a local authority we have neither the time nor expertise to do.”
Janet Williams, Public Health and Housing Manager, Torridge District Council
We work with you to understand the housing issues you are looking for a loan scheme to address, and advise on best policy to stimulate activity and deliver your strategic aims.
Lendology CIC are a registered supplier on the Crown Commercial Services platform, easing the procurement process.
Our commitment to partnership working means that we are with you every step of the way to set up a process that works, meaning a loan scheme can be set up within an 8-12 week timeframe.
We hope you find this guidance helpful and take the steps to grow your partnership with Lendology.
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If you are a local council in the UK looking to explore a Lendology loan scheme partnership, please complete the form below and we will be in contact within 2 working days. We can arrange a webinar session to understand your private sector housing aims and how Lendology can support you.
Please note, we are unable to partner with contractors or other for-profit organisations.
We are always happy to answer any questions you have. If our Frequently Asked Questions do not answer your query, please contact us and a member of our team can support you.
Lendology requires a Title Restriction as we lend local council funds to homeowners. The local council require repayment of the loan should the loan property be sold during the loan term. The Restriction is only in place whilst there is a balance due on the loan. When you have repaid your loan in full, we will deal with the removal of the Title Restriction at the Land Registry. There is no fee or charge for this.
If during the loan term you decide to sell or transfer the ownership of your home, your legal representative will write to us and request a loan balance on the date of sale, and we will remove the Title Restriction when the balance of the loan has been received.
Our Title Restriction means that if the loan balance is still outstanding when you sell your property, Lendology will require its funds returned as part of this process. Your legal representative will write to us and request a loan balance on the date of sale, and we will remove the Title Restriction when the balance of the loan has been received.
If you are re-mortgaging your home, your legal representative will contact us for our consent. We consider each case on a case-by-case basis and are likely to approve your re-mortgage if your new mortgage is similar to your previous mortgage when you took your Lendology loan. If we do not consent to your re-mortgage, we will confirm to your legal representative the loan balance required to settle the loan.
We will never ask you to sell your property in order to repay the loan.
Scheme set up costs vary depending on your requirements. After an initial discussion, we will be able to provide a cost-break down detailing both initial set-up fees and ongoing activity-based pricing. Contact to discuss.
Ideally, Lendology require a minimum of £300,000 as a starting level for a loan scheme.
With our average loan value of around £8,000, it means that we could support approximately 37 households as a start point.
We have been operating for nearly 20 years, and so have a wealth of experience working with local councils, including developing new loan scheme offerings and on-boarding new partners.
We work in partnership with each council and lend according to their Housing Policy. We currently support owner occupiers, landlords, empty property owners and park home owners under our main loan schemes.
Not as a matter of course. However, if there is a situation where a council partner requests us to lend to a non-homeowner, we are able to complete a financial assessment as per our usual application process.
We register a Title Restriction against the property at the Land Registry to enable us to protect local council funds. This means that should the homeowner look to re-mortgage, sell or transfer ownership, we are notified and the loan agreement stipulates repayment on any of these trigger events.
Typically, we have around 0.8% of loans in arrears, so a very low rate. Our initial affordability assessment ensures that when we lend, we are confident that customers can afford to make repayments now and into the future.
We are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and we work through a conversation with the customer where we undertake a financial assessment, which looks at all income and outgoings. We realise the benefit of having a conversation, and we follow that up with requesting copies of financial documents to support the conversation.
We ask for copies of bank statements, and other supporting documents and information.
It can take as little as 2-3 days, but the average is more like 14 days.
Uniquely our standard loan rate is 4%, regardless of age or income or loan term.
We charge £20 to cover the cost of entering the Title Restriction at the Land Registry.
We always ask for a copy of the final invoice, which matches the amount of money borrowed.
We always signpost applicants for funds that are freely available in the first instance, and we are also there to support them if the work required is more expensive than the grant.