Two platforms, two fundamentally different approaches
Brickflow and Assesr both serve the UK development finance market, but they solve different problems. Brickflow is a comparison marketplace — it lets you search rates from 150+ lenders, model deal viability, and get Decisions in Principle. Assesr is an AI-powered marketplace — it generates institutional-grade credit papers from your documents and matches them to specialist lenders.
The fundamental difference: Brickflow helps you find lenders. Assesr helps you win them.
What Brickflow does well
Brickflow has earned its reputation as the most established specialist property finance comparison platform in the UK. With 7,000+ property investors using the platform, it offers genuine value:
- Rate comparison across 150+ lenders — see live rates side-by-side for bridging, development finance, and commercial mortgages
- Deal modelling tools — check project viability before you apply, including LTV, LTC, and profit calculations
- Smart Appraisal — fill in one appraisal and apply to multiple lenders simultaneously
- Decisions in Principle in 7 minutes — fast initial screening against lender criteria
- Enterprise options — white-labelling, API access, and broker directory listing for larger firms
For brokers who want to quickly compare rates and present options to clients, Brickflow is a solid tool. Its deal modelling capability is particularly useful for checking whether a scheme is viable before investing time in a full application.
Where Brickflow falls short
Brickflow's core limitation is that it stops at comparison. Once you've identified potential lenders, you still need to:
- Write the credit paper or broker pack yourself (typically 2–6 weeks of work)
- Manually extract data from PDFs, planning documents, QS reports, and valuations
- Submit through a broker — borrowers cannot apply directly
- Pay a monthly subscription (£32–180/mo) whether deals close or not
For developers, the broker requirement is the biggest friction point. You can browse Brickflow for free, but the moment you want to actually apply, you need a broker — and that broker's fee (typically 1–2% of the loan) dwarfs the subscription cost.
What Assesr does differently
Assesr takes a fundamentally different approach. Instead of comparing rates and leaving the hard work to you, Assesr automates the entire process from document to lender offer:
- AI credit paper generation — upload your documents (planning consents, QS reports, valuations, title deeds) and get a 10-section institutional-grade credit paper in 60 seconds
- Automated document extraction — AI reads PDFs, images, and spreadsheets to extract structured data. No manual entry.
- Direct borrower access — developers submit directly for free. No broker required.
- Mandate-matched lender panel — 50+ specialist development finance lenders, filtered by geography, asset class, ticket size, and experience requirements
- Pay only on success — 0.5% on drawdown. Nothing upfront, no subscription, no failure fee.
Head-to-head comparison
Here's how the two platforms compare across the features that matter most:
- Credit paper generation: Assesr generates a full 10-section credit paper with sourced figures, risk grading, and sensitivity analysis. Brickflow does not generate credit papers.
- Number of lenders: Brickflow has 150+ across all product types. Assesr has 50+ specialist development finance lenders. When filtered for dev finance specifically, the gap narrows significantly.
- Borrower access: Assesr lets developers submit directly and for free. Brickflow requires a broker to apply.
- Pricing: Assesr charges 0.5% on drawdown only. Brickflow charges £32–180/month plus you still pay broker fees.
- Speed: Assesr generates credit papers in 60 seconds with average 4.2-hour lender response. Brickflow shows rates in minutes but the full process still takes weeks.
- Document handling: Assesr extracts data from uploaded documents using AI. Brickflow requires full manual data entry.
- Lender experience: Assesr lenders receive standardised credit papers. Brickflow lenders receive varied broker packs.
Pricing breakdown: a £3M development deal
On a typical £3M development finance deal, the cost comparison is stark:
- Brickflow route: £32–180/month subscription + broker fee of 1–2% (£30,000–£60,000) = £30,384–£62,160 total
- Assesr route: 0.5% on drawdown = £15,000 total. Nothing paid until the deal completes.
That's a saving of £15,000–£47,000 per deal. For a developer doing multiple schemes per year, the difference compounds rapidly.
Who should use Brickflow?
Brickflow is best suited for:
- Brokers who want to quickly compare rates across multiple product types (not just development finance)
- Developers who want to model deal viability before engaging a broker
- Larger brokerage firms who want enterprise features like API access and white-labelling
- Anyone who values rate transparency as the primary decision factor
Who should use Assesr?
Assesr is best suited for:
- Developers who want to submit directly without a broker — and save 50% on fees
- Anyone who wants lender-ready credit papers, not just rate comparisons
- Developers who value speed — hours to lender offers, not weeks
- First-time developers who need institutional-grade analysis to compete with experienced borrowers
The bottom line
Brickflow is a good rate comparison tool. But comparison is only step one. The hard part — writing the credit paper, extracting data from documents, getting lender approvals — still falls on you.
Assesr automates the hard part. Upload your documents, get an institutional-grade credit paper in 60 seconds, and reach matched lenders in hours. At a quarter of the cost.
If you just want to compare rates, use Brickflow. If you want to actually get funded — faster and cheaper — use Assesr.