LHV Bank surpasses £1bn in lending to UK SMEs and property investors
LHV Bank has surpassed £1bn in total lending to UK SMEs and property investors since launching its SME lending business in 2023, marking another milestone in the bank’s UK growth.
Growth has been supported by continued demand from brokers and borrowers across commercial real estate, trading business mortgages and specialist buy-to-let, alongside LHV Bank’s investment in its lending proposition and team.
Earlier this year, LHV Bank strengthened its SME lending operation with the promotion of Liam Grimes to senior portfolio manager and Jane Woodruff to senior operations manager. The promotions came as the bank continued to build the structure needed to support the growth of its SME lending business.
LHV Bank has also continued to broaden its reach across the UK, including appointing Harper Macleod as its primary Scottish legal adviser as it looks to expand its presence in Scotland.
The bank has supported a broad range of commercial property and SME transactions during 2026. Recent completions include circa £22m of specialist buy-to-let facilities supporting the acquisition of 253 residential properties, as well as a £7.01m refinancing facility for an Oxfordshire hotel, golf and spa resort.
Conor McDermott, Director of SME Lending at LHV Bank, commented: “Reaching £1bn of lending tells us that we have moved beyond simply establishing ourselves in the market. Brokers and borrowers are now coming back to us with larger, more complex opportunities because they know how we approach a deal and, importantly, they know they can have a conversation with the people making the lending decisions.
“The commercial market has not been straightforward over the past few years. Borrowers have had to contend with higher funding costs, changing valuations and greater scrutiny of cash flow, so growth cannot just come from saying yes to more
deals. It comes from understanding what sits behind the property, how the business performs and what the borrower is trying to achieve.
“That is the approach we want to retain as we grow. £1 billion is a significant marker for a lending business that only began originating loans at the start of 2023, but we’re not interested in growth for growth’s sake. We want to keep doing good deals, support more brokers and borrowers, and make sure we maintain the service that has got us to this point.”