Who we are

Lease Estate is a specialized real estate leasing company focused exclusively on the underserved SME segment in Belgium. Founded in 2019, we are one of only five professional real estate leasing companies recognized by Febelfin, and the only specialist dedicated to smaller transactions (typically €250k to €750k, up to €2 million).

The SME financing gap

The Belgian financing market is evolving rapidly. While enterprise lending has climbed to a record €187 billion, access to long-term financing is shrinking fast. For micro-companies with fewer than 9 employees, which make up 96% of all Belgian SMEs, the sense of exclusion from credit markets is growing stronger than ever.

Banks increasingly finance only 'best-of-class' enterprises, leaving a fast-growing underserved SME segment without alternatives. Lease Estate is currently the only player in Belgium specialized in offering real estate leasing solutions for deals under €1M. No non-bank alternatives exist today for long-term commercial real estate financing in this segment.

A seasoned senior position

Lease Estate closes the gap the banks left — without asking a bank to carry direct SME risk. The Belfius facility is secured by the strongest position in the stack: Lease Estate holds legal ownership of every property in the pool, the twelve leases are seasoned and performing, and payment behaviour is monitored monthly through the framework described in chapter 2.

Beneath the senior facility sits junior capital that absorbs losses first: a subordinated loan of € 1,325,000 obtained from PMV and Lease Estate’s own contribution. At 70% of appraised value, the facility is conservative against both the collateral and the pool’s € 77,789 in monthly lease instalments.

How we assess Asset Risk

60+ indicators per location with 500+ datapoints. Three layers deep. Every value traceable to source, from Statbel to OVAM.

One composite property score per file: every layer traceable to source data, the same methodology for every location in Flanders.

How we monitor risk

Each dossier carries a quantified expected-loss estimate, rebuilt from public default data and the characteristics of the specific lessee and asset. The model is refreshed as portfolio data comes in, and collateral values are revalued annually.

The scorecard behind the PD — mirrored aggregation tree

Public data flows in from the left — NPL ratios from the NBB and bankruptcy statistics per sector for SMEs from FOD Economie — and sets the sector baseline. The right-hand side holds the company's own financials: six weighted pillars, each built from factor leaves scored on the annual accounts and the transaction itself. Hover over any leaf to trace exactly how it flows through the weights into the total score.

Debt structure

Every lease is funded with senior bank debt plus our own contribution. The chart shows funding per vintage year (€M), split by source — from a single relationship at the start to five banks today. The table underneath details, per source and per vintage, the amount funded and the amount outstanding today, with the current weighted interest rate after rate revisions. Toggle the switch to see the agreed refinancing (signature pending): ABN AMRO takes over nine ’23/’24 files (€4.75M) and the 2026 own contribution converts into a BankB credit — freeing up ±€3.0M of equity for new production.

Scaling to €20M production

Lease Estate is positioned to scale to €20 million per year in new production by 2029. This is our plan provided we secure sufficient funding: the growth path assumes funding capacity keeps pace with origination — if funding comes in more slowly, production shifts out in time, not in ambition. The growth is funded by the proposed debt facility and does not require additional operational investments. The model below reflects the compounding effect of new production cohorts on the total outstanding portfolio and gross interest margin.

Estimated Costs Breakdown

Why 2026 marks the
turning point

Growth over the past two years was not a demand problem: it was a capital problem. Funding constraints pushed our pricing above 8%, pricing us out of a significant portion of the market we would otherwise have converted. That constraint is now being resolved: Lease Estate is currently finalising €20,000,000 in new funding commitments, which will allow us to price competitively and activate the full pipeline.

2026: Already in Motion

Four further leases are already signed — on top of the four leases already funded in 2026 (€2.85M, see the track record in section 02) — and two more are awaiting deed. Three further deals are agreed in principle, subject to conditions precedent. Combined, these nine transactions represent €6,994,625 of committed 2026 production before the year is half over.

With €8,662,175 in live proposals currently outstanding in the pipeline, we are confident a full-year production of €10M+ is achievable without any additional operational investment. The funding unlock is the only input required.

The Eight Levers to €20M

Reaching €20M per year by 2029 does not require us to build a new company. It requires activating the distribution channels we already know exist, and letting lower rates do their work on a pipeline that has always been there.