In private credit the fees move the total cost more than the rate does. This is every charge you are likely to meet, who actually receives it, and which ones are worth arguing about.
| Fee | Typical | Paid to | Negotiable | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Establishment / application | 1–3% | Lender | Sometimes | The single biggest lever on all-in cost in a short term. On a 6-month loan a 2% fee is 4% p.a. |
| Exit / discharge | 0–1% | Lender | Sometimes | Often invisible until the loan doc. Ask up front — it lands entirely in a short term. |
| Line fee | 0.5–2% p.a. | Lender | Rarely | Charged on the facility limit, not the drawn balance. Matters most on staged construction. |
| Risk fee | 0.5–2% | Lender | Rarely | A second establishment fee under another name. Add it to the establishment when comparing. |
| Legal (lender's) | $2k–8k | Lender's solicitor | No | Borrower pays the lender's legals as well as their own. Higher for second mortgages and multiple securities. |
| Valuation | $800–5k+ | Valuer | No | Must be from a valuer on that lender's panel. Switching lenders often means paying twice. |
| Quantity surveyor | $3k–15k | QS | No | Construction only. Also charged per progress drawdown, which adds up over a build. |
| Drawdown / progress | $300–1k each | Lender | Sometimes | Construction only. Multiply by the number of stages before comparing. |
| Extension / rollover | 0.5–2% | Lender | Sometimes | The one that catches people. If the exit slips, this is what it costs to buy time. |
| Default interest | +2–10% p.a. | Lender | Rarely | Check what triggers it. Some facilities trigger on a missed condition, not just a missed payment. |
| Broker fee | 0.5–2% | You | — | Yours to set. Include it when you show the client an all-in cost, or the comparison is not honest. |
How interest is handled changes what your client receives at settlement, not the headline rate:
Any of the three can be right. The mistake is comparing a prepaid facility against a serviced one on rate alone and telling the client they are the same money.
Private credit is quoted gross and settles net. Between the two sit the establishment fee, the lender's legals, the valuation, any prepaid interest, and whatever is being refinanced. Clients hear the gross number and plan around it. Run the funding table before you quote, so the number they remember is the one that arrives.
Our all-in rate currently captures interest plus the establishment fee, annualised over your term. Exit fees, line fees and third-party costs are collected but not yet ranked on — including them before we hold them for every lender would punish whoever disclosed most. The full method and its limits are here.