Plant & Construction Equipment Finance
Digger finance, excavator finance and plant machinery funding — so the kit that wins the contract is on site when the contract starts.
- Whole-of-market — 60+ lenders searched
- All credit histories considered
- Decisions in as little as 24 hours
Whole-of-market — 60+ lenders searched, including
Construction and groundwork firms across Leeds, York, Harrogate, Wakefield, Selby, Tadcaster & across North & West Yorkshire use CW Asset Finance to fund the plant that wins and delivers contracts. We search 60+ lenders for new and used machinery on Hire Purchase, lease or refinance — keeping your cash free for wages, materials and fuel.
What plant and machinery can you finance?
Excavators, dumpers, telehandlers, crushers, screeners, site accommodation and attachments — new or used, from a dealer, at auction or from a private seller. If it has a serial number and a resale market, a lender will usually look at it.
Every asset has its own page: how lenders treat it, what buyers specify, the questions people ask, and what we have actually funded.
| Asset | What it covers | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Mini excavator | Mini diggers are the most financed machine in UK groundworks — small enough to buy quickly,… | Read the guide |
| Midi excavator | The 5 to 10 tonne class is where a groundworks firm stops hiring in and starts… | Read the guide |
| 13 tonne excavator | Thirteen tonnes is the workhorse size for UK civils — big enough for deep drainage and… | Read the guide |
| Wheeled excavator | Wheeled excavators earn their keep on highways and utilities work, where tracking across finished surfaces is… | Read the guide |
| Long reach excavator | Long reach machines are bought for a purpose, not for general hire, and funders assess them… | Read the guide |
| Rotating telehandler | A roto replaces a crane, a scissor and a fixed handler in one machine, and it… | Read the guide |
| Wheel loader | Loading shovels are bought to move volume, and the funder’s first question is always what you… | Read the guide |
| Skid steer | Skid steers are small-ticket plant, which means the decision is usually quick — but the attachment… | Read the guide |
| Tracked dumper | Tracked dumpers go where a wheeled site dumper cannot — soft ground, steep ground and through… | Read the guide |
| Site dumper | Every groundworks job needs a dumper, which is why the used market never dries up and… | Read the guide |
| Ride on roller | Tandem rollers are compaction plant that works hard in short bursts, and their long service life… | Read the guide |
| Trench roller | Remote control trench rollers compact backfill where nobody should be standing, which makes them a safety… | Read the guide |
| Bulldozer | Dozers are bought for bulk earthmoving and landfill, and funders read the application as much as… | Read the guide |
| Backhoe loader | The backhoe loader digs, loads and drives itself to the next job, and funders have decades… | Read the guide |
| Crusher | A mobile crusher turns a disposal cost into a saleable product, and the business case is… | Read the guide |
| Screener | Screeners turn mixed arisings into saleable grades, and unlike a crusher they earn from day one… | Read the guide |
| Concrete mixer | Concrete mixing plant ranges from a site mixer in the back of a van to a… | Read the guide |
| Concrete pump | Concrete pumping is a specialist business with a small number of operators, and funders assess the… | Read the guide |
| Piling rig | Piling rigs are among the most specialised assets in construction, and funders price that specialism into… | Read the guide |
| Road planer | Planing is the first operation on almost every resurfacing job, and owning the machine is what… | Read the guide |
| Tarmac paver | A paver is the machine that turns a surfacing gang into a surfacing contractor, and it… | Read the guide |
| Tower light | Lighting towers are low-value individually and substantial in a batch, which is exactly how the hire… | Read the guide |
| Generator | Generators are bought by contractors who cannot wait for a grid connection and by hire fleets… | Read the guide |
| Welfare unit | Site welfare is a legal requirement, not an optional extra, which makes a welfare unit one… | Read the guide |
| Breaker attachment | A breaker is the attachment most contractors hire far too often before buying one, and it… | Read the guide |
| Tiltrotator | A tiltrotator turns one excavator into several machines, and UK contractors have finally started buying them… | Read the guide |
| Scissor lift | Scissor lifts are the backbone of the access hire industry, bought in fleets, hired constantly and… | Read the guide |
| Boom lift | Boom lifts reach where scissors cannot, cost considerably more, and are funded by people who can… | Read the guide |
| Low loader trailer | Owning the machine is only half the job — getting it to site is the other… | Read the guide |
How quickly can you finance plant and machinery?
Indicative decisions come back in as little as twenty-four hours, and we manage the agreement through to payout from there. Having the invoice, recent accounts and the machine’s details ready is what shortens the rest.
Construction equipment finance exists because contracts rarely wait for cash flow. Winning the job and having the plant on site are the same problem, and plant machinery finance solves it by spreading the cost across the work the machine does.
Digger and excavator finance
Digger finance covers everything from a 1.5-tonne machine to a 30-tonne tracked excavator. Mini digger finance is usually the quickest to arrange because the values are lower and the resale market is deep. Larger excavator finance takes a closer look at the business, but the machine itself is strong security.
Telehandlers, dumpers and access
Telehandler finance, dumper finance and cherry picker or access platform funding all work the same way. New or used, main dealer or auction, we place the deal with lenders who understand plant residuals rather than treating it as generic equipment.
What lenders actually assess on plant
Plant is strong security, so the machine matters as much as the accounts. Lenders look at make, model, year, hours and whether there is an established resale market. A three-year-old JCB or CAT with a service record funds easily. An unusual import with no UK parts network is harder, whatever your balance sheet looks like.
Hours matter more than age on plant. A five-year-old excavator with 2,000 hours is a better proposition than a three-year-old machine with 6,000, and lenders price accordingly.
Funding plant against a contract
The most common reason contractors come to us is a won contract that needs a machine on site before the first payment arrives. Construction equipment finance solves the timing: the machine is funded, the job starts, and the contract pays for the machine. Tell us the site start date and we will work to it rather than around it.
Attachments, buckets and ancillaries
Breakers, augers, grabs, quick hitches, buckets and tilt rotators can usually be funded alongside the base machine rather than paid for separately out of working capital. If you are specifying a machine, price the attachments into the same conversation — it is almost always cheaper than funding them later.
Auction purchases
A great deal of plant changes hands at auction, and auctions do not wait. Arrange funding before you bid so you know your ceiling and can complete inside the payment window. We can usually give you a figure to bid to within a day.
Refinancing plant you already own
If capital is the constraint rather than the machine, refinancing plant you already own can release funds without selling it. That is often the fastest route to a deposit on a bigger contract.
What to send us
Send us the make, model, year and hours — or the auction lot — and we will tell you which lenders will fund it, over what term, and what the monthly cost looks like. No credit check to ask, and if it is not fundable we will say so rather than put your file through applications that will fail.
Preserving working capital and Full Expensing
New plant bought on hire purchase can qualify for a 100% first-year deduction under Full Expensing, so a company paying the 25% main rate of Corporation Tax saves 25p of tax for every £1 of asset cost in the year the machine is brought into use.[2,5] The cash cost is still spread across the agreement. Full relief now, paid for over time, is why most finance directors buy plant this way rather than outright.
What qualifies
Full Expensing applies to new and unused plant and machinery bought by a company within the charge to Corporation Tax. Second-hand machines do not qualify for it[2] — though the Annual Investment Allowance, currently £1 million a year, gives the same 100% first-year effect and does cover used kit.[1]
What changed in 2026
Two changes from Budget 2025 are now in force. A new 40% first-year allowance applies to main-rate plant and machinery bought on or after 1 January 2026 — it must be new and unused, second-hand is excluded, and cars are excluded; you then claim writing-down allowances on the remaining 60%.[3] And the main writing-down allowance has been cut from 18% to 14%, from 1 April 2026 for Corporation Tax and 6 April 2026 for Income Tax, with a hybrid rate for periods straddling those dates. The special rate pool is unchanged at 6%.[4]
Why hire purchase and not a lease
On a hire purchase agreement with an option to purchase, the company is treated as the owner for capital allowances once the asset is in use, so the deduction is yours. HMRC puts it plainly: you can claim for all payments under the contract when you start using the item, but not on the interest payments.[1] A finance lease or an operating lease will not give you this, which is the single most common reason a business expecting the relief does not get it.
If you buy assets to lease them out
Assets bought in order to lease them out are excluded from Full Expensing. That remains true — but it is no longer the whole picture. The new 40% first-year allowance was introduced specifically to reach cases the existing allowances miss, and HMRC names assets bought for leasing as one of them, with a carve-out only for overseas leasing.[4]
If you are a sole trader or partnership
You are outside Corporation Tax, so Full Expensing is not available to you — HMRC is explicit that only companies can claim it.[2] The Annual Investment Allowance is, and at £1 million it covers most purchases outright, new or used.[1] The 40% first-year allowance is open to you as well: HMRC designed it to be available to all businesses, not only incorporated ones.[4]
On the rates
25p per pound is the main rate. A company on the 19% small profits rate saves 19p, with Marginal Relief in between — the main rate applies above £250,000 of profit and the small profits rate at £50,000 or less.[5] Cars are excluded from Full Expensing, from the Annual Investment Allowance and from the 40% first-year allowance alike.[1,2,3]
General information, not tax advice. Capital allowances depend on your own circumstances and on the rules in force when the expenditure is incurred — confirm the position with your accountant before relying on it.
Sources
- HMRC, Claim capital allowances: Annual investment allowance — £1m limit; covers used assets; excludes cars; hire purchase treatment and the exclusion of interest
- HMRC, Claim capital allowances: Full expensing and 50% first-year allowance — companies only; new and unused; not cars
- HMRC, Claim capital allowances: 40% first-year allowance — expenditure from 1 January 2026; new and unused; not cars
- HMRC, Capital allowances: new first-year allowance and reducing main rate writing-down allowances — Budget 2025 policy paper, 26 November 2025 — WDA 18% to 14%, operative dates, and leasing and unincorporated businesses brought into scope
- HMRC, Corporation Tax rates, expenses and reliefs — 25% main rate above £250,000; 19% small profits rate at £50,000 or less; Marginal Relief between
Sources checked 7 October 2026. Tax rules change; confirm the current position before relying on it.
How it works
Tell us what you need
One quick conversation about the asset and how the repayments need to work.
We search 60+ lenders
As an independent broker we find the right structure and rate — not one lender’s products.
You get funded
Indicative decisions in as little as 24 hours, then we manage it through to payout.
Estimate your repayments
Asset finance is quoted on a flat rate, so that is what the buttons show, with the equivalent APR beside it. Your exact rate depends on the asset, the term, the deposit and the lender.
Prime is an established, profitable business with clean credit. Specialist covers newer businesses and credit that needs explaining — the asset itself carries part of the risk, which is why finance is often available where an unsecured loan is not.
Representative example: on Hire Purchase, borrowing £25,000 over 48 months at a 5.15% flat rate (equivalent to 9.9% APR representative), you would repay around £628 a month; total amount repayable approximately £30,150, of which £5,150 is the cost of finance. This calculator is for illustration only — it is not a quote or an offer of finance, and the rate and repayments you are offered will depend on the asset, term, deposit and your circumstances. CW Asset Finance is a credit broker, not a lender, and will receive a commission from the lender that funds your agreement. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
Rates shown are indicative flat rates with the equivalent APR alongside — the two are not the same number. Indicative only and does not constitute a quote or an offer of finance. Subject to status and lender approval.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get digger finance on a used machine?
How quickly can plant machinery finance be arranged?
Can I finance plant bought at auction?
Can I release cash from plant I already own?
Do you cover my area?
Get your quote
Tell us what you’re looking to fund and Conor will come back to you personally — usually the same day.
Prefer to talk? Call 0333 772 4864 · serving Leeds, York, Harrogate, Wakefield, Selby, Tadcaster & across North & West Yorkshire.