Development Finance Broker Document Requirements Checklist

A client called me last year.

Six weeks into a development finance deal. Lender going cold. His client getting nervous.

"They're asking for the QS cost schedule again. We sent it."

He couldn't find the version he'd actually submitted. Three folders deep, four email threads, two different filenames. The deal didn't fall through. But it freaking nearly did. Over a document he definitely had.

That's not a lender problem. That's a paperwork management problem.

Here's what I want to do with this article. Give you the actual development finance broker document requirements checklist, the one you can use before every deal goes to lender. And then tell you the thing that checklist alone won't fix.

Let's start with what lenders need.

The Development Finance Broker Document Requirements Checklist

Every lender has their own flavour. But the core pack is consistent. If you can't produce these before submission, you're not ready to submit.

Section 1: Planning and Site Documentation

These are the deal-qualifiers. Missing any of these and most lenders won't even open the conversation.

• Full planning permission (or prior approval for permitted development)

• Planning drawings and architectural plans (including elevations, floor plans, site layout)

• Section 106 agreement and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) details if applicable

• Land registry title or purchase contract (proof of ownership or right to develop)

• Planning conditions attached to the consent

One thing brokers miss: lenders read through the planning documents themselves. They're checking CIL obligations because large CIL payments eat into profitability and affect their loan-to-cost ratios. Get this detail in front of them early.

Section 2: Financial and Appraisal Documentation

This is where deals get made or killed. Lenders need to see the numbers from multiple angles.

• Development appraisal showing total project costs, GDV, and expected profit margin

• Gross development value (GDV) evidence from two or more local agents with comparable sales data

• Detailed cost breakdown by category (land, build, professional fees, contingency, finance costs)

• Quantity surveyor (QS) cost report or detailed contractor schedule of costs

• Asset, Liability, Income and Expenditure (ALIE) summary for the borrower

• Bank statements (typically 3-6 months personal and business)

• Proof of deposit and equity contribution

The GDV point matters. Lenders typically expect total project costs to be at least 20% below GDV. You need professional agent evidence for that number. Not the developer's estimate. Agents with comps.

And the QS report isn't optional on anything above a simple conversion. It's the lender's REALITY check on your client's build cost numbers.

Section 3: Developer Credentials and Team

Lenders aren't just funding a project. They're funding a team.

• Developer CV showing relevant past projects (location, GDV, timeline, outcome)

• Contractor details and comparable completed schemes

• Architect credentials and current PI insurance

• Planning consultant if applicable

• Professional team sign-off letters where lender requires them

First-time developers: don't skip this section and hope the numbers carry it. Lenders weight experience heavily. A strong team around an inexperienced developer can bridge this gap. Document the team properly.

Section 4: Legal and Compliance Documentation

• Proof of identity (passport or driving licence) for all directors and guarantors

• Proof of residence (utility bill or bank statement, less than 3 months old)

• Company incorporation documents and certificate of good standing (if SPV or limited company)

• Anti-money laundering (AML) source of funds evidence

• Personal guarantee terms if applicable

• Any existing charges on the land or site

AML is non-negotiable. The longer you leave it, the longer legal takes. Get it in the pack from day one.

Section 5: Project Plan and Exit Strategy

• Schedule of works broken down by construction stage with milestone dates

• Projected drawdown schedule aligned to build programme

• Exit strategy document (sale, refinance, or lettings strategy with supporting evidence)

• Sales agent letters or lettings appraisals supporting the exit assumptions

The exit strategy isn't a formality. Lenders have seen too many developers assume the market stays the same from planning to completion. Give them a credible written plan with evidence.

What Kills Development Finance Deals Before They Start

Sound familiar? You've got most of this. But it's spread across inboxes, WhatsApp threads, Dropbox folders, and email attachments with names like "FINAL_v3_revised.pdf."

Here's the thing: the document requirements checklist for development finance brokers isn't the hard part. Assembling it cleanly for every deal is.

The brokers I speak to aren't losing deals cause they don't know what lenders need. They're losing time, causing delays, and occasionally creating risk cause the documents they have aren't organised in a way that makes rapid retrieval possible.

A few patterns I see constantly:

• The missing QS version problem. Three iterations of the cost schedule, unclear which was submitted, which was revised, which the lender actually has.

• The stale compliance doc problem. AML evidence that was in the pack but expired during a drawn-out legal process.

• The cross-deal search problem. Broker working 8 deals. Lender asks: "Have you done a similar scheme in this area?" That's a cross-deal document retrieval question. And the answer lives somewhere in a folder nobody can navigate quickly.

Development finance is a document-heavy vertical. Each deal carries 40 to 80 documents minimum. A broker managing 8 to 12 active deals at any time is sitting on 400 to 1,000 live documents. That's before the closed deals sitting in archive.

The difference between a chaotic submission and a clean one isn't always what you know. It's how fast you can find what you already have.