FRP secures £3m bridge to remediate Tonbridge gas works for 144 homes
10 November 2026
The Real Estate Advisory team at FRP has arranged a £3m land bridge with Secure Trust Bank Business Finance to fund remediation of a former gas works site in Tonbridge, Kent. The works will prepare the land for a scheme of 144 apartments, and the borrower plans to refinance onto development finance once they are complete.
The 18-month facility was structured at 44% LTV, refinancing the site and releasing equity to fund the remedial works. The scheme comprises 52 one-bedroom, 69 two-bedroom and 23 three-bedroom apartments.
Tonbridge is not an isolated case. SGN, which runs the gas network across southern England and Scotland, owns 110 gas holders and is dismantling them so the land can be regenerated. Before homes can follow, the ground has to be made safe, and the government has opened a further £34.7m round of its Brownfield Land Release Fund this year to help councils meet the remediation and other abnormal costs that stall brownfield sites. At Tonbridge, that stage is what the £3.04m funds, ahead of a scheme of 144 apartments.
Edward Horn-Smith, Partner, led the transaction with Corey Dennis, Associate Director, in the Real Estate Advisory team at FRP, from the developer’s first approach through to completion. Remedial works on a gas site take specialist knowledge to understand, and the developer needed them funded before anything could be built. The team drew on its knowledge of the sector to understand what the works involved, built the facility around the developer’s plan for the site, and placed it with Secure Trust Bank Business Finance.
The borrower is a developer with more than 30 years’ experience and came to the team directly as a new client.
Secure Trust Bank Business Finance was chosen for its understanding of the remedial works and its competitive pricing. The bank has been expanding its bridging range and originated £40m of bridging loans in the first half of 2026.
Edward Horn-Smith, Partner at FRP, commented:
“A gas works is not a site many lenders want to take on in a tough market, and the remediation is the one part of the project nobody sees once the homes are built. The developer had a clear plan for the land, so our job was to put that plan in front of a lender willing to take the time to understand the ground beneath it. Getting this stage right is what lets 144 homes follow.”
John O’Leary, Senior Relationship Director at Secure Trust Bank Business Finance, added:
“Nobody wants to find out what is in the ground halfway through a build, so on a former gas works the first conversation is about the remediation, not the apartments. With a developer who has more than 30 years behind them and leverage at 44%, we were comfortable backing that stage. It is a long way from a gas works in Tonbridge to 144 homes, but this is the part that gets the site moving.”
