When London’s real estate lending crowd heads to the sun-soaked shores of France, it becomes a hub for industry professionals to swap insights, strike deals, and sharpen their edge.

B&C spoke with several attendees to find out their key insights and takeaways from the event.

Dealmakers converge in Cannes

Gavin Diamond, CEO at Inspired Lending, shared that “MIPIM is always a good opportunity to consolidate existing relationships and make new ones” in an environment where everyone shares the same goal.

This sentiment was echoed by James Hedges, associate, real estate — debt advisory at broker SPF Private Clients, who claimed that “in terms of connecting with clients and lenders, there isn’t a better place than MIPIM”.

Most respondents agreed that the event gathered the industry’s biggest players, from lenders and investors to lawyers and valuers, in order to build relationships and forge deals.

Katy Katani, lending director at CapitalRise, shared that “there’s simply nothing like the intensity of networking” at the south of France event.

She added that MIPIM provided a unique international perspective that revealed how “global trends are shaping investment decisions — or, in some cases, holding them back”.

Justin Trowse, managing director at Mortimer Street Capital, responded that the event was “always a strong barometer for the UK property market and specialist finance sector”.

He clarified that the market faced a cautious period ahead but “capital isn’t the issue and funding is available”.

Despite sensing a more measured mood than usual, Justin felt that “the quality of conversations, connections and potential opportunities showed that deals are still there for the right borrowers and the right projects”.

Image: HTB broker lunch with Dynamo, SPF, Altura, Affinity, Bircroft Private Finance, Vandermolen and Align Property Finance

Selective deal appetite and more scrutiny

Delving into the insights gathered from this year’s event, Andrea Glasgow, sales director of specialist mortgages and bridging finance at Hampshire Trust Bank, said that “there is still appetite to transact, but people are far more selective”.

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With discussions around “leverage, liquidity and timing” consistently cropping up, she explained “higher funding costs and economic uncertainty haven’t stopped activity, but they have sharpened how people approach deals.”

Andrea said that many of the conversations centred on “recalibrating portfolios rather than expanding them”, with landlords “looking at the individual assets and asking whether each property still justifies the capital attached to it”.

Refurbishment was also a common theme of the event, with Andrea responding that it was becoming a “far more deliberate strategy for strengthening rental income and improving yields”.

She explained that one broker told her: “If you can make the existing asset perform better, that is often the smarter move than chasing the next purchase”.

Image: Watts Commercial and VAS Panel lunch at beach club La Mandala

Faster deal-making

Reflecting on her experience of attending the event over the last 12 years, Katy said that MIPIM had become more diverse with “noticeably more women in attendance now than decades ago”.

Katy explained that she had closed several loans directly from conversations during the event and that many more deals had been accelerated as “you can achieve in a couple of hours what might otherwise take weeks of calls and meetings”.

Both Justin and Andrea concurred that MIPIM created an environment that expedited deals.

Holly Harvey, managing director at Redmond Harvey Communications, said that the event serves as a reminder that the industry was relationship-driven.

She explained that “deals often begin with conversations rather than presentation” and “while doing business in the French sunshine helps, it is the strength of relationships and clarity of communication that ultimately drive outcomes.”

Funding pressures and lender stability dominated conversations

For Andrea, the same pressures continuously came up in conversation: “fixed rates maturing, tighter rental affordability and sensitivity to valuation movements in certain sectors.”

Following both Century Capital and Market Financial Solutions falling into administration earlier this year raising concerns on how bridging lenders are funded, Andrea said that several brokers spoke about the instability they had observed in parts of the funding market.

She continued: “When swap pricing moves quickly or funding lines come under pressure it creates uncertainty that brokers and their clients have to manage carefully.”
 

Image: Holly Harvey