Latest Full Lande Assessment For Lenders

LANDE more than covers the risks with double-digit lending rates to European farmers who put up land or machinery as security for their loans.

LANDE* was the first ever P2P lending company in either the eurozone or continental Europe to be fully assessed by 4thWay. Lenders using LANDE have lent €43 million since 2020.

What does LANDE do?

LANDE's borrowers are Latvian, Lithuanian and Romanian businesses – almost all farmers. Loans to businesses in Poland are just starting up too.

The loans are usually secured on the farmer's land or home, or other farming real estate, or they are secured on farming machinery.

Much more rarely these days, the loans can be secured on pre-priced grain with insurance against natural hazards, on livestock. There are one or two other miscellaneous types of security, such as expected farming subsidy and grant payments.

Lenders like you are paid 10% to 13% in almost every loan. Virtually all borrowers are required to pay interest to lenders on a monthly basis.

Borrowers usually borrow between €5,000 and €100,000, with the highest amount approved so far being €167,000.

To lend, you must have a bank account in the UK, the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.

How good are its borrowers and loans?

The maximum borrowers can borrow is 60% of the value of the security that they put up to protect lenders.

In other words, if they are pledging property or other business possessions or assets that are currently valued at €100,000, the most they are allowed to borrow is €60,000. This is somewhat on the better side for these kinds of loans.

The average lent has been 43% versus the valuation of the property or asset. While that is fantastic overall, it's nuanced, so I'll have more to say about that over the next few sub-sections.

Loans secured on land and property

The quality of security at LANDE* is substantially more solid as you go from grain and livestock on to machinery, and then on to land and property.

It's reassuring, then, that 58 out of every 100 loans that LANDE approves are now what it calls “land loans”. On average, borrowers are borrowing just €42,000 on land and property valued professionally at €100,000. This is exceptionally good for security of this type.

For land loans, Lande invariably takes the equivalent of a first-legal charge on farmland or other agricultural real estate.

This means that if the borrower struggles to repay while having multiple debts, it is LANDE, on your behalf, that is able to enforce payment of all the money owed to you, including interest, on repossessing and selling the property. All others owed money by the same borrower can take what is left, only after you get all your dues.

Land and property lending at LANDE has proven to be fantastic quality. It is relatively easily valued, it maintains its value well, and farmers can't easily hide it or sell it without LANDE knowing.

Loans secured on machinery

Machinery has recently been 36 loans out of every 100 approved.

European banking data shows that the ability to recover bad debt through a forced sale of machinery is usually – on average – much worse than with real property.

Even so, tangible security that can be forcibly sold to other farmers is better than no security at all (everything else being equal).

Despite this, what helps with LANDE* is the cap on loans at 60% of the machinery's current valuation, which I estimate edges slightly lower than the average for this kind of lending in Europe.

More than that, the average lent against machinery at Lande is just 41%, which is quite low (i.e. good).

This low average “loan-to-value” (LTV) affords you greater protection, but by no means as much as with property lending. (Again, more on that a few sub-sections down.)

Loans secured on farming subsidies and government grants

Lending to borrowers secured against expected subsidy or grant payments doesn't work as smoothly as say, UK bridge VAT loans.

That's where borrowers need to pay VAT on the purchase of an investment property and then recover it from HMRC, but in the meantime they take out a loan to cover the up-front VAT payment.

Subsidies and grants are more complex for all parties to assess for approval and pay out, and to stay on track to earn those subsidies.

To make this somewhat more solid security for lenders, the bank account that governments pay out to are diverted to LANDE. LANDE deducts the loan and interest due, then pays the borrower the difference.

LANDE also agrees to loans that are for less than 40% of the subsidy value, on average.

Just three out of every 100 loans being approved by LANDE recently have been loans of this kind.

Loans secured on grain or livestock

It's not fair to lump these two types of security together, because their performance profiles in terms of turning bad and then the efforts to recover them are very different. But there are now so few of these loans that there's no point splitting them apart.

Grain loans provide relatively weak security, in large part because farmers don't reliably use the grain or loan in the way they say they will.

Nevertheless, borrowers must take out insurance against crop loss. LANDE* tries to reduce the risks further by getting a three-way contract with the farmer and the purchaser of the grain who agrees to buy the harvest in advance at a fixed price.

Livestock can also have issues, not least because repossessing and selling them is not easy, especially if the delinquent farmer is recalcitrant. While bad-debt recoveries from livestock loans can be good, the cost and effort in pursuing living-breathing-moving-eating security can be trying, to say the least.

Farmers must take out insurance against disease in their animals.

It's good news that LANDE has reduced its loans based on grain and livestock over the past 12 months to just two loans out of every 100 it approves. That's down from 41 out of 100 on grain alone when LANDE started.

LANDE loans on grain are usually for close to half the grain's value, which is not particularly attractive for these kinds of loans.

Livestock is much better at around 30% of the market value of the animals, which really helps.

Quick stats to emphasise the varied quality of the security

Before I move on from the subject of the types of security, I just want to show something to aid you in understanding its varying quality.

Because it's not all about the low loan-to-value of around 40%.

I want to draw your attention to land loans that turned bad more than 12 months ago – and have therefore had a fair bit of time for LANDE to recover those debts.

84% of bad-debt amounts on those loans have already been recovered, on average, with more under way. This is a high recovery rate – as expected.

In contrast:

• For subsidy and grant loans, recoveries so far have hit 54% and counting.
• For machinery it's 44%.
• Livestock, 68%.
• And grain is just 39% at present.

LANDE* is still pursuing recoveries for almost all of the defaulted loans, so those are not the final figures, by any means.

To put that in perspective, some additional information we received at the start of this year showed that 100% all of the bad debts that had gone right the way through all the possible recovery procedures had been recovered in full.

Much of the outstanding debt today is still deep within that process.

But these figures still help to demonstrate the difficulties of full recovery with differing security types.

In money lending, you're supposed to expect some confirmed losses and we'll be able to see what crystallises at LANDE within about a year.

Loans by region

It should not be surprising that different countries perform differently.

Expansion beyond Latvia and into Lithuania and Romania over the past three years has had mixed results.

The proportion of land and machinery loans to farmers in Lithuania that have suffered issues is virtually the same as Latvia – keeping it steady.

While grain loans are way down, this is at least in part counterbalanced by more loans to Romanian farmers.

Four out of every nine loans have recently been in Romania. Meanwhile, land and machinery loans there have been two-and-a-half times more likely to become bad debts than Latvian loans.

LANDE currently offers cashback to lenders taking part in new Romanian loans, with the explanation that the amount of lending from there has been “especially high this season”.

But perhaps it's to give lenders extra incentive to lend there, while LANDE takes the time it needs to prove that its loans from the region will do very well after recoveries.

It's early days though and LANDE has previously adapted to its innovations, so 4thWay will keep monitoring closely for you.

At this current stage, the performance is still absolutely good enough overall.

Loans are typically rolled over many times

Farmers initially borrow for 3-60 months, with 12-36 months overwhelmingly the norm.

However, most farmers expect to extend their LANDE* loans into new loans, often into perpetuity, rather like an ongoing credit facility, such as an overdraft.

Specifically, half of borrowers borrow repeatedly: between two and 14 times (so far). Expect perhaps four out of every ten loans you lend in each month to be a form of repeat borrowing.

This is normal practice here. It's standard in farming all over the developed world to rely virtually continuously on both subsidies and loans.

Yet that also increases the risks for lenders, as borrowers in perpetual debt have to continually use part of their profits to pay loan interest.

The flip side is that we'll always need food. That provides strong, underlying long-term support to the industry, which in turn supports anyone lending it money.

LANDE bases each loan renewal on a new valuation of the latest available security from the borrower.

So renewals are in some ways better seen as ongoing lending facilities, where lenders get the opportunity to reassess security on a regular basis.

With LANDE – as usual for us – 4thWay keeps a very close eye on facility-type lending, tracking detailed data provided to us on a regular basis, querying anything odd or contradictory, and requesting supporting information and documentation. Just to judge whether repeated lending might be being used to cover up a growing pile of bad debts.

The quality of the borrowers themselves

The strict standards LANDE* has set on security have been sensible, because its borrowers are not always the most skilled businesspeople, nor especially financially literate or organised, and have sometimes even vigorously resisted settling their obligations.

That adds pressure to the quality of the security and the likelihood of farmers suffering debt problems.

Roughly one-in-five borrowers eventually fall at least 30 days behind on payment at some point.

The likelihood of these loans suffering problems and requiring the security to be called in is higher than in many other kinds of small-business lending.

It's in one ways perhaps a little similar to short-term property bridging lending, where borrowers have property or assets of value but little cash in the bank.

Bridging borrowers often need to be chased for payment or even get dragged through the courts to have property forcibly sold.

It's just that here, with LANDE borrowers, it's not as much about a shortage of cash, as it's a shortage of farm accountants to help farmers budget and plan wisely.

LANDE's key people

We've always said that LANDE's lack of experience was the biggest point to watch. Indeed, I don't think the word naive is over-the-top in how LANDE started and they did go through a big learning curve.

For example, initially they didn't understand that their borrowers were going to want to roll over their loans.

That said, LANDE* has been using its experience in 1,000 loans over the past five years to rapidly improve what it does. Learning fast on the job isn't a given, as 4thWay has found that some P2P lending providers have been unable or unwilling to do so.

In addition, LANDE has hired someone with what seems like precisely the right experience for these kinds of loans over 20 years. After well over a year, the results in terms of the quality of the loanbook are already showing through.

LANDE* now also has more than 10 lawyers working for them to stay on top of any loans where borrowers fail to meet terms, especially when they fall behind on payments. This is a really positive development.

And it has continued to hire at a rate that I have not been able to keep up with through 2025.

However, LANDE could still learn more from its own lending, which is now over 1,700 loans (around 900 if you consider multiple loans to the same borrower as one loan facility). I am pleased to learn that it hired a risk analyst a few months ago, but I have not had a chance to conduct any interviews before the deadline for updating this LANDE review. I hope this means LANDE will now be learning even more quickly through professional assessments of its historical data.

LANDE's lending processes

The incentives for LANDE's loan salespeople used to be seriously misaligned, as they did not emphasise loan quality. This is likely a substantial contributing factor to a backlog of harvest loans in trouble prior to its improved loanbook and security requirements that it started implementing about two years ago.

Their new bonus scheme is better. Although we can't measure its impact directly, I expect that it has been improving results.

In Romania, it's an ongoing process trying to find better and quicker ways to assess borrowers and their security, as it's not been easy to do it in that country. LANDE has steadily been working on that, so we'll see if fewer borrowers from there have been falling behind in about 12 months.

A key person at LANDE* now knows most borrowers by name and she takes a very close interest. This is a fantastic development for what is really a group of very diverse borrowers, although mostly farmers, and is likely to be useful for spotting and dealing with issues early on.

It's also a major contrast to previous loan monitoring, which was palpably ineffective. The earlier you can spot signs of issues, the greater the chance of getting repaid and getting the money more punctually.

When it comes to renewing loans, LANDE* has toughened up its processes substantially. Borrowers are increasingly required to show they did indeed collect their harvests, that their income levels are strong, and that they haven't got into more debt.

If there's a red flag, LANDE claims it now requires borrowers to repay and pushes for repayment, although it was historically slow in this regard. As of 2025, we've now collected sufficient data to see that this claim is supported by the numbers, although it is indicative only.

What is clear is that LANDE has got tougher on chasing bad debts and has more rigid processes and timelines in place in terms of progressing to court. Previously, they had been far too soft. They now take a harder line, giving little leeway for borrowers if they fall behind.

They state on their website that “our efficient collection processes allow us to recover the outstanding loan amounts quickly”. This isn't always true – at least not for loans that go beyond being merely late but actually turn bad.

Even with its strict steps to recover debt, LANDE takes a very long time to recover bad debts from the point they fall behind on payments. But I think it's probably not easy to go a whole lot faster with these loans.

About LANDE's risks and interest rates

Half of the bad debt is still in the process of being recovered. And LANDE* probably needs another year or so to finish demonstrating how good it is at recovering money from some of its often stubborn farmers.

A large number of these debts have now built up to the stage where bailiffs are enforcing final court decisions, and we await results.

But we certainly, nevertheless, have sufficient history to conduct all of the most important tests on its overall loan book.

4thWay executes a variety of assessments. Our core assessment, based on the so-called Basel stress tests, is the strictest.

For this test, 4thWay quickly classifies loans to be in default. Plus, we adjust forecasts based on what amounts might be written off after a batch of loans turn bad. Our process reflects the types of loans and security lenders are currently lending in. We also presume a major recession and market crash has just occurred.

Under this assessment, we forecast that – averaging across all loan types – more than 30 out of every 100 loans could become bad debts. Furthermore the average amount recovered on any bad debt will be lower…

Our core risk-reward assessment, LANDE's 4thWay PLUS Rating and interest rates

Even so, after recoveries, LANDE* lenders who lend for at least two years and until borrowers have repaid all their good loans in full can still expect to be soundly profitable. That's why LANDE has earned the top 3/3 “Exceptional” 4thWay PLUS Rating.

Lending interest rates are between 10% and 13%. Those double-digit returns greatly offset the risks.

For more perspective, over the past two months alone, lenders earned interest that equals nearly 20% of the total outstanding bad debts.

With borrowers almost always paying interest on a monthly basis, and more recoveries coming in, that is cash in the bank that reduces the risk of losses.

LANDE also pays new lenders 3% cashback in your first 30 days when you lend in new loans (as opposed to buying loans second hand from other lenders). While cashback is not a good reason to choose to lend, it’s a good bonus if you wanted to do so anyway.

For lenders lending in new loans to borrowers in Romania, you currently get additional cashback:

• Lend €500+ in an individual loan in Romania and you get 0.5% cashback.
• Lend €1,000+ and you get 1% cashback.
• Lend €5,000+ and you get 2% cashback.

Focusing on risk of losses from bad debts alone through the 4thWay Risk Score

LANDE* solidly continues to have a 5/10 4thWay Risk Score. The Risk Score is a reflection of the potential scale of losses from bad debts and doesn't take into account interest earned.

This score is awarded because projected losses before interest each year for the two years immediately after a major recession and crash would just be between 2.5% and 5%.

While LANDE still has a bit more to prove in terms of recoveries, it's more likely at present to improve further to a 4/10 4thWay Risk Score than tick up to a 6/10 Risk Score.

In any event, interest rates are more than attractive enough at any of those 4thWay Risk Scores.

Picking loans yourself

LANDE has been approving around 50 loans a month. While the data we receive is focused on the loans themselves rather than lenders, I expect that lenders are managing to lend across a wide number of loans and a wide variety of them.

That's even though you might watch to ensure you're lending to a sufficient number of unique borrowers.

Automated lending

LANDE doesn't commit to automatically spreading your money across a specified, minimum number of loans. But you're accessing the same pool of loans that's available to lenders who choose their own loans.

If you want to be a pro, you could initially set your auto-lend to spread your money across the lowest-risk loans. Selecting all land and property loans is the simplest way.

If you also set those loans to a limit of 50% LTV, you're still getting access to almost all of those loans. I would call that overkill though.

For those of you using the basic automated lending, without advanced filters, the minimum is €50 per loan. If you're filtering your automated lending (e.g. to focus on land and property) the minimum you need to lend in each loan is €100.

There are no additional costs for using auto-lend.

How much cash can you deploy?

The amounts borrowed are not very large – even the land and property loans.

As the average lender lends just a few thousand euros, it takes time to build a bigger lending portfolio if you have a lot to lend. Don't expect to be lending six figures through LANDE any time soon!

Minimum lending amount

You lend for as little as €50.

Currency risk

If your own currency isn't the euro, there's currency risk (or reward).

The euro can easily move, say, 10% to 15% against most other currencies in less than a year – either in your favour or against.  In such cases, one year's movement could wipe out – or double – your lending returns.

If you invest in shares and bonds across the world you are already exposed to currency risk and research shows this tends to balance out over time.

There are other ways to contain this risk – and cut costs at the same time. To minimise currency risk and get the cheapest exchange rates, see The 13 Key Peer-To-Peer Lending Risks.

Regulation and lending structure

LANDE is regulated in Latvia, which is seen in a positive light, overall, by the OECD and the IMF.

LANDE* has had approval to operate since launch and it received its full licence as a European crowdfunding platform in February 2024. It uses the standard European P2P lending model for structuring its loans.

Is LANDE profitable?

A translated version of LANDE's most recent accounts show that it made its first profit last year of nearly €200,000.

Exiting your loans early

The natural period of time for money lending is to do so until the borrower repays in full. At LANDE, you can sell your loan parts early if and when other lenders are willing to buy.

Lenders will not always be willing to buy your loans off you early. That's normal in money lending and so you should expect it. You should just be a money lender if you're very comfortable with that fact.

Through LANDE, you can buy or sell loan parts that are not late, that haven't turned bad, and that haven't passed their final scheduled repayment date.

There's no fee for selling early.

Visit LANDE*.

Pages linked to above:

The 13 Key Peer-To-Peer Lending Risks.