Funding for GP partnerships and medical centres, buying premises, joining or leaving a partnership, building a new surgery, or refinancing borrowing that no longer suits the practice.
What we arrange for GP practices
- Commercial mortgages to purchase or refinance surgery premises
- Partnership buy-in funding for incoming partners, and buy-out funding when a partner retires
- Development finance for new-build surgeries, medical centres and extensions
- Equipment and IT finance for clinical and practice systems
- Refinancing to reduce borrowing costs or restructure between partners
- Sale and leaseback to release capital tied up in surgery premises
- Premises finance for Scottish practices under the 2018 GMS contract
How lenders assess a GP practice
The critical difference from ordinary commercial lending is the treatment of NHS income. Lenders with healthcare divisions understand government-backed income streams and price accordingly, and for many of them notional rent, rather than trading profit, is the driving force behind the serviceability calculation.
That matters in two directions. It can support a level of borrowing that a general commercial lender would not entertain against the same accounts. It also means a proposal that leads with practice profit, and treats notional rent as a footnote, is being presented the wrong way round.
Lenders will also take account of other long-term rental income from the premises, a pharmacy, a dentist or a private clinic on a proper lease, where those leases are in place.
What lenders will actually do
- Premises purchase and refinance: for qualifying NHS-contracted surgeries, high loan-to-value lending including up to 100% is available from a small number of specialist healthcare desks. Terms typically run to around 25 years.
- Serviceability: assessed primarily on notional rent rather than trading profit, which is why a proposal built around practice profit alone often understates what is achievable.
- Security: partnership buy-in and buy-out funding is frequently available against the practice share rather than partners’ homes.
- Who assesses it: several clearing banks run dedicated healthcare teams with sector-accredited relationship directors, and some hold accreditation endorsed by primary care and pharmacy professional bodies.
- Equipment and IT: asset finance from small-ticket facilities up to several million, on hire purchase or lease.
Partnership buy-ins and buy-outs
The retirement of a partner with significant capital tied up in the premises can destabilise a practice, and the up-front cost of buying in is one of the main obstacles to recruiting new partners. Funding the transition properly, rather than draining practice cash, is usually the difference between a smooth handover and a difficult one.
We can structure funding for an incoming partner buying a share, for continuing partners buying out a retiring share, or for a wider restructure across several changes at once.
If your practice is in Scotland
Scotland is different, and materially so. Under the 2018 Scottish GMS contract, the Scottish Government and BMA Scotland agreed a national code of practice for GP premises setting out a transition, over 25 years, to a model in which GPs are no longer expected to provide their own premises.
Practices that own their premises have been able to take interest-free sustainability loans worth up to 20% of existing-use value, repayable when the premises are sold or cease to be used for primary medical services, with health boards able to take over ownership and lease the premises back. For practices leasing from third-party landlords, there is a planned programme transferring those leases to NHS boards.
The practical effect is that conventional surgery purchase mortgages are a shrinking part of the Scottish picture, while releasing premises value, including through sale and leaseback, has become a more common conversation. If you are a Scottish practice, that is the discussion to have.
Read more: GP premises finance in Scotland covers the 2018 contract, sustainability loans and the practical differences in missives, standard securities and LBTT. GP surgery sale and leaseback sets out how releasing premises value works and when it is the right answer.
Wales and Northern Ireland
Welsh GMS premises arrangements differ from England’s, and Northern Ireland operates under Health and Social Care rather than the NHS, with its own contract framework and a smaller pool of lenders willing to lend. We will tell you at the outset which funders are genuinely available.
Common questions
Can we borrow 100% of the premises value?
For qualifying NHS-contracted GP surgeries, high loan-to-value lending including up to 100% is available from some lenders, driven largely by the strength of notional rent and the security of contract income. Whether it is available on your case depends on serviceability and valuation, and it is not universal. Many lenders cap at a lower level.
Will the bank want security over my home?
Not necessarily. Healthcare lenders will often lend against the practice premises and the strength of contract income without taking a charge over partners’ residential property. Where a lender does ask for it, that is often a signal to test the market rather than accept.
Can we fund a new surgery build?
Yes. Development finance for new surgeries and medical centres is available, and lenders that understand primary care will look at the completed value and the reimbursement position rather than treating it as speculative development.
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.