Specialist mezzanine finance for County Durham's developers

Development gap funding across Durham

Across the 6 County Durham towns we monitor, 5,184 residential units are moving through live planning applications, an estimated £516m of gross development value. Chester Le Street recorded 6,723 sales in the last 12 months, while Durham carries the county's strongest pricing at a median of £150,000.

That data is not decoration: it is how we underwrite. A mezzanine loan is a view on whether a scheme will sell at the price its appraisal claims, so we track every live application and recorded sale in the towns above before we price a County Durham deal. The same numbers are published openly in our UK development pipeline tracker, where County Durham currently ranks number 11 of 48 counties by pipeline value.

Darlington is the largest town and Durham the historic city, with Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees also within the ceremonial county. The River Wear runs through the north and the River Tees along the south.

The product itself works the same in County Durham as everywhere we lend: your senior lender keeps first charge and funds the majority of cost, our mezzanine finance takes a second charge over the next slice, and your equity requirement falls, typically from 35 percent of cost to 5 or 10. Terms run 6 to 36 months with pricing indicatively from 12 percent a year, and a complete enquiry gets a term sheet inside 48 hours. Model your own scheme with the leverage calculator.

County Durham's development pipeline, measured

Monitored towns only; data refreshed 5 July 2026 from HM Land Registry and local planning authority records.

Where we lend in the county of Durham

Durham

864 units sit in Durham's live planning applications, an estimated £126m of GDV. The median sold price over the last 12 months is £150,000 (down 6.3% year on year), across 1,486 recorded sales. Schemes here are underwritten against that evidence, not against optimism.

Chester Le Street

864 units sit in Chester Le Street's live planning applications, an estimated £92.5m of GDV. The median sold price over the last 12 months is £125,000 (flat 0% year on year), across 6,723 recorded sales. Schemes here are underwritten against that evidence, not against optimism.

Newton Aycliffe

864 units sit in Newton Aycliffe's live planning applications, an estimated £88.1m of GDV. The median sold price over the last 12 months is £127,500 (down 5.6% year on year), across 291 recorded sales. Schemes here are underwritten against that evidence, not against optimism.

Consett

864 units sit in Consett's live planning applications, an estimated £87.2m of GDV. The median sold price over the last 12 months is £132,750 (down 5.2% year on year), across 518 recorded sales. Schemes here are underwritten against that evidence, not against optimism.

Bishop Auckland

864 units sit in Bishop Auckland's live planning applications, an estimated £71.7m of GDV. The median sold price over the last 12 months is £115,000 (up 8.5% year on year), across 749 recorded sales. Schemes here are underwritten against that evidence, not against optimism.

Peterlee

864 units sit in Peterlee's live planning applications, an estimated £50.3m of GDV. The median sold price over the last 12 months is £76,000 (up 8.6% year on year), across 474 recorded sales. Schemes here are underwritten against that evidence, not against optimism.