Recognise’s gross lending rises 51% as bridging balances more than double
Recognise Bank completed £306.7m in gross lending over the year to 31 March 2026, driving a 51.1% rise in its loan book to £461.9m, up from £305.6m a year earlier.
Since the year end, the loan book surpassed £500m.
Bridging was the biggest driver of that growth. Balances more than doubled, from £124m to £303.8m, and made up two-thirds of the total book.
Professional buy to let (BTL) was mostly flat at £88.4m, up marginally from £88m in 2025.
Commercial lending fell from £58.8m to £49.5m in 2026, however.
By location, London remained the largest concentration at £153.2m, up from £88.3m. The South East rose from £54.9m to £95m, and the North West increased from £66.2m to £77.5m.
Are your clients ready for the first Making Tax Digital reporting deadline?
Sponsored by BM Solutions
Recognise recorded a small net impairment credit of £46,000 for the year, against a £2.3m impairment loss in 2025. It attributed this to changes in the structure of the loan portfolio rather than any weakening in asset quality.
Net loans and advances stood at £461.9m after expected credit losses of £4.6m, which comprised a £0.4m collective provision and £4.2m against individually impaired loans.
The bank’s net interest income increased 31.7% to £20.4m. Net interest margin improved from 5% to 5.3%, which the bank attributed to disciplined pricing across lending and savings, as well as continued balance sheet optimisation.
The figures came after the board approved a new strategy in May 2025, with Recognise reaching in-month profitability in June, three months earlier than planned.
As part of that shift, the lender moved its London head office, shut its Manchester office and opened a new operations centre in Milton Keynes. It also streamlined its organisational structure, reducing average headcount to 68 from 70, and began refreshing its technology platforms.
Expansion of bridging offering
The specialist lender’s product focus during the year centred on expanding its bridging finance offering, in line with the shift seen in the book.
Recognise plans to scale this further in FY27, said CEO Simon Bateman.
Recognise is also preparing to launch regulated bridging in FY27, subject to permissions from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), and plans to expand its commercial mortgage and longer-term property lending.
Recognise made an £8.9m profit after tax for the year, compared with a £5.3m loss the year before. This included £0.9m in restructuring costs and a £7.1m deferred tax asset. The bank could have recognised £11.6m in deferred tax assets, but held back £4.6m because longer-term profit forecasts remain uncertain.
