Selina Finance review: property-secured credit lines for business owners

Selina Finance is a London lender built around one main idea: letting homeowners borrow flexibly against the equity in their property. Its business credit product is a home equity line of credit, often called a HELOC, that business owners can draw on, repay and draw again as their needs change. Selina Finance is one of the lenders on our panel, and as an independent broker we can compare it with company-secured loans and other property-backed options so you can see the full picture. You can read more on Selina Finance's own website.

01About Selina Finance

Selina Finance was founded in 2019 and is based in London. It has raised equity and debt funding from investors including Lightrock and Goldman Sachs. In its early days Selina concentrated on lending to small business owners against their homes, before widening its focus to homeowners more generally. Today its business credit sits alongside personal and buy-to-let uses of the same core product.

Smart Funding Solutions is an independent broker and is not part of Selina Finance.

02What Selina Finance funds

Selina's business credit is a credit line secured by a second charge on your home. You do not need to remortgage, and your existing first mortgage stays in place. Instead of taking one lump sum, you get a limit you can draw from during an agreed flexible period. On Selina's published criteria:

Feature	What Selina says
Borrowing range	£5,000 to £500,000
Security	Second charge on your home
Maximum loan to value	Up to 85% of your home's value, including your existing mortgage
Flexible drawdown period	2 to 5 years, during which you can draw, repay and redraw
Total term	5 to 30 years

Selina says you only pay interest on the amount you have actually drawn, and that it does not ask for business plans or forecasts. That makes it closer to an overdraft secured on your home than a traditional business loan. Typical business uses it highlights include working capital for retailers, cafés, trades, salons and consultants.

Because this is borrowing secured on your home, your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments. That is the most important point to understand before you apply.

03Who Selina Finance suits (and who it may not)

Selina's credit line tends to suit:

• Business owners who own their home and have meaningful equity in it.
• Owners who want an ongoing pot of working capital rather than a single loan, for example to cover seasonal stock or uneven cash flow.
• Smaller or younger businesses that find it hard to produce the accounts and forecasts many business lenders want.
• People happy to take personal responsibility for business borrowing in exchange for flexibility.

It may not be the best fit if:

• You do not own a home, or have little equity left after your mortgage.
• You would rather keep your home out of business borrowing. A loan secured on business assets, or unsecured borrowing, may be preferable even if it is smaller.
• Your company owns commercial property it could borrow against instead.
• You need a large sum for a property purchase, where a commercial mortgage is usually the more natural route.

Selina's business credit is a credit line secured by a second charge on your home.

04What Selina Finance looks at

Selina's process starts with a short online eligibility check and a personalised quote, which it says does not affect your credit score. You then speak to an adviser and upload documents. As with most home-secured lending, you should typically expect checks on:

• Your home's value and your existing mortgage balance, to work out available equity.
• Your income and outgoings, so the lender can judge affordability.
• Your personal credit history.
• Proof of identity and address, and recent bank statements.
• What the money is for, so that business use is clear.

Selina says funds can be available shortly after approval. Second charge lending still needs the property and title to be checked, so allow time for that stage.

05Pros and cons

Pros

• Flexible: draw, repay and redraw during the flexible period.
• Interest is charged only on what you have drawn.
• No business plan or forecasts needed, according to Selina.
• Your first mortgage is left untouched.
• Long total terms can keep repayments manageable.

Cons

• Your home is at risk if repayments are not kept up.
• Business borrowing becomes a personal commitment.
• Only available to homeowners with enough equity.
• Long terms mean you can pay more in total if you only make minimum repayments.
• Not designed for very large commercial property projects.

06Applying through a broker vs going direct

You can apply to Selina yourself online. The reason to compare first is that home-secured credit is only one of several ways to borrow against property. A second charge business loan from a commercial lender, a loan secured on company assets or an unsecured facility could do the same job with a different balance of cost, flexibility and personal risk.

We search the market across our panel of 300+ lenders, explain the trade-offs in plain English and approach the lenders that suit your situation, so you fill in one application rather than several. It is free to enquire; any broker fee is disclosed separately before you proceed. You can get started with our Instant Quotes tool and compare lenders in minutes.

07Alternatives to Selina Finance

• Together: a property-backed lender worth comparing if you want a secured business loan on residential or commercial property, including less standard cases.
• Fleximize: offers both secured and unsecured business loans, useful if you would rather keep your home out of the deal where possible.
• Mercantile Trust: a secured business lender to compare where a fixed lump sum suits better than a credit line.

For a wider look at your options, our guide to homeowner business loans compares the main ways business owners use property equity, and our secured vs unsecured business loans guide sets out the risks on each side.