Funding to buy a practice, buy into a partnership, or buy out a departing partner, across dental, medical, pharmacy, veterinary and optical.
What this covers
- Buying an established practice outright, including goodwill
- Buying into an existing partnership as an incoming partner
- Buying out a retiring or departing partner’s share
- Acquiring an additional site or a group of practices
- Management buy-outs, where an existing team acquires the business
- Start-up and squat practices, where there is no existing goodwill
Goodwill is the heart of most practice deals
When you buy a healthcare practice, a large part of the price is goodwill: the established patient or client base, the staff, the systems and the cash flow. It is intangible, which makes generalist lenders uncomfortable, and entirely normal to specialist healthcare lenders who have been funding it for decades.
Those lenders will typically lend against the practice’s goodwill and equipment rather than requiring a charge over your home. The test is whether the practice’s profitability comfortably services the borrowing, assessed on its actual trading rather than projections.
Where the deal includes freehold premises, the goodwill and property elements are usually funded on different terms within one transaction, goodwill over a shorter period and the property over considerably longer. That split drives your monthly cost more than the headline rate does, and it is worth modelling before you commit to a price.
Indicative terms
- Secured practice purchase: high loan-to-value against goodwill and freehold on well-structured cases, with the property element typically over around 25 years and goodwill over a shorter term.
- Unsecured professions lending: £30,000 to £500,000 standard, growth facilities to £2m, rates from around 8%, no property or asset security. Covers doctors, dentists, opticians, pharmacies and other regulated practices.
- Larger and group acquisitions: asset-based structures up to around £25m for management buy-outs, buy-ins and buy-and-build.
- Care and specialist acquisitions: from around £150,000 to £35m depending on funder and whether the valuation is going concern or bricks and mortar.
How much will lenders advance?
Appetite in this sector is strong, and for well-structured practice purchases high loan-to-value funding is often available against both goodwill and freehold. What is achievable on any given case depends on the target practice’s profitability, your own position and the lender.
Your contribution does not always have to be cash. Equity in a property you already own can sometimes count towards the overall stake a lender wants to see, which can leave more of your own money available for the improvements that grow the practice after completion.
Partnership buy-ins and buy-outs
A partner retiring with significant capital in the business, particularly where premises are involved, can destabilise a practice, and the cost of buying in is one of the main barriers to recruiting new partners. Funding the transition, rather than absorbing it into practice cash, protects the business through the change.
These deals are usually secured against the share being acquired rather than the incoming partner’s home, and can be structured so that continuing partners are unaffected.
What we will need from you
- Details of the practice you are buying, including sale particulars
- The vendor’s accounts, ideally three years, plus current management figures
- The income mix: contract versus private, and any concentration risk
- Your own position: deposit available, existing borrowing, assets, experience
- For partnership deals, the current partnership structure and the proposed change
Common questions
Can I borrow for the whole purchase price?
In some cases, particularly where the practice is profitable and the sector is one lenders favour. Most lenders will want to see some contribution from you, though it may not all need to be cash.
How long does a practice purchase take?
The finance is rarely the slowest part. Valuation, due diligence and conveyancing usually determine the timeline, and in Scotland the process differs because of the missives system. Getting an agreement in principle early means you are not the reason for a delay.
Will the lender want life cover?
Frequently yes, as part of the security package. We flag it at the outset so it does not hold up completion.
All figures are indicative and subject to lender assessment, your circumstances, valuation and prevailing market conditions. Commercial mortgages and unregulated bridging loans are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Property offered as security may be at risk if you do not keep up repayments.
This page was last reviewed in September 2026 and is next scheduled for review in March 2027. Lending criteria change frequently, so contact us for current terms rather than relying on published figures.