Blend Network

Primary product: P2P debt to residential property developers — investors can pick individual loans (manual lending) or use an AutoLend/automated allocation feature to match pre-set criteria.

Key commercial terms:

• Minimum commitment: typically £1,000 per loan.
• Fee profile: no primary-market setup, membership, or lending fees for investors; a 0.60% fee applies to successful seller transactions on the Secondary Market (buyer pays no fee). Secondary Market listings are generally available to buyers 24 hours after being posted.
• IFISA: the platform indicates loans can be held in an Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA); IFISA status relates to tax treatment, not risk reduction. Confirm IFISA eligibility and ongoing administration arrangements given the firm's changed regulatory status.

Blend Network's structure and minimums have generally suited professional, experienced, or high-net-worth investors who can tolerate capital-at-risk and illiquidity and who seek targeted exposure to short-term property development finance. The platform historically has offered relatively high coupons compared with many bank products, which reflects higher credit and liquidity risk. The platform excludes US taxpayers and has other eligibility criteria that prospective investors must confirm.

Investors who cannot bear capital loss or who require ready liquidity are not suitable for P2P property development loans. Those considering Blend should ensure they can meet diversification needs given the platform's relatively low deal flow.

Strengths (platform-disclosed / historical):

• Specialisation in short-term residential development loans secured by legal charges can improve recoverability compared with unsecured credit, depending on charge priority and realisation outcomes.
• Historically reported coupon range (8–15%) and platform-reported average LTV/LTGDV metrics indicate a risk-adjusted lending focus compared with higher-LTV consumer products, but these are platform metrics and should be validated on each loan.
• Availability of a secondary market provides a potential exit route for sellers (subject to finding a buyer and paying the 0.60% seller fee).

Risks (material and platform-disclosed):

• Regulatory: the operating entity is no longer registered as an Appointed Representative and can no longer conduct regulated activities under that status per FCA Register entries. This may affect how the platform operates, its permissions, and investor protections.
• Capital loss: borrowers may default, causing loss of capital. Advertised coupon ranges are not guaranteed and do not reflect net realized returns after defaults and recoveries.
• Liquidity: loans are typically illiquid; secondary market sales are not guaranteed.
• FSCS: P2P investments are not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme; IFISA wrappers do not provide capital protection.

1) Regulatory deregistration: The FCA Register indicates Blend Loan Network Limited is no longer registered as an Appointed Representative and cannot conduct regulated activities under that status. This is the most significant watch point and supersedes earlier statements of AR status or claims of direct authorisation unless the firm publishes updated FCA register entries showing otherwise. Investors should verify the firm's current permissions and the status of any IFISA arrangements.

2) Disclosure consistency: Platform materials and third-party summaries have inconsistently described the firm's regulatory position (past claims of authorisation vs FCA register showing AR or deregistration at different times). This inconsistency should be clarified publicly by the firm.

3) Limited public performance data: There is a lack of comprehensive, independently audited historical data on default rates, recoveries, and net investor returns. The platform provides aggregate funded amounts and coupon ranges but not detailed loss/recovery statistics. Investors requiring historical loss metrics should request loan-level performance data from the platform.

4) Reviews and third-party sentiment: Claims about Trustpilot or Reddit reviews in some summaries are inconsistent with search results and should be treated as unverified until confirmed directly on the review platform.

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