Specialist lender adds commercial mortgages up to £2m as it builds a full property-lifecycle funding platform for brokers' investor clients
Manchester-based specialist lender Roma Finance has launched a new commercial mortgage proposition, giving intermediaries access to funding of up to £2m for property investors, trading businesses and OpCo-PropCo structures across England, Scotland and Wales.
The launch, which took effect this week, follows the landmark forward-flow funding agreement Roma struck with J.P. Morgan last month – a deal that unlocked long-term buy-to-let and commercial lending for the first time in the lender's history.
Why is Roma Finance moving into commercial mortgages?
Rates on the new range start from 7.1%, with lending available up to 70% loan-to-value (LTV). Brokers can combine fixed-rate options with longer-term funding structures, covering both investment purchases and owner-occupied commercial premises.
The move extends Roma beyond its traditional footing in bridging and development finance, giving the lender a product to sit alongside its existing short-term offer. It is a shift Mortgage Introducer has tracked across the wider specialist market, in reporting on bridging finance shifting towards commercial deals as investors chase higher-yielding, more complex assets.
Michael Allison (pictured top), commercial director at Roma Finance, said the launch reflected the lender's ambition to support clients across the full length of a deal. "This launch is a natural progression for Roma as we continue to build our market share and long-term lending capability following our agreement with J.P. Morgan," he said.
"We've always focused on supporting our property professionals and investors throughout different stages of their property investment journey, so being able to offer commercial mortgages alongside our bridging and development products strengthens that approach."
What does this mean for brokers with complex cases?
Allison said the addition was designed to keep clients within Roma's own product range for longer, rather than referring them elsewhere once a deal moved past the bridging stage. "In practical terms, it means we can stay with customers for longer – whether they're buying an investment property, running a business from the premises, or working through a more complex structure," he said. "It's about keeping things straightforward, staying flexible where we can, and making sure customers have funding options that actually work in the real world."
To support the new range, Roma set up a dedicated commercial underwriting team earlier this year, aimed at strengthening the lender's capacity to assess more complex commercial and semi-commercial cases. The build-out mirrors a pattern seen elsewhere in specialist lending, where distribution and underwriting depth have become a differentiator – illustrated by TAB's recent expansion of specialist lending access through the TMA Mortgage Club panel.
A wider push into long-term lending
The commercial launch is the latest step in Roma's move from a bridging and development specialist towards what the firm has described as a "full lifecycle" funding partner. The J.P. Morgan forward-flow deal, agreed in June, also cleared the way for Roma to offer buy-to-let and commercial mortgage terms of up to 40 years, with two-, five- and seven-year fixed-rate options.
For brokers navigating that broader shift towards specialist products, Mortgage Introducer's guide to how specialist lenders support brokers with complex cases sets out what intermediaries should weigh up when placing cases outside mainstream criteria.
Roma said further product launches and service enhancements were expected later this year as it continues to build out its long-term lending platform.
"This is a landmark moment for Roma Finance, particularly in the current climate, and a hugely exciting step in the continued evolution of our business," Roma managing director Scott Marshall said of the J.P. Morgan agreement.
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