Membership

Who we are

CREFC Europe is the trade association for real estate lenders and finance markets in Europe. CREFC in the United States is our sister organisation.

We are a non-profit association offering our members opportunities to network, collaborate and learn, and to help shape the European real estate debt market and understand and influence its regulatory framework.

We have close to 150 corporate members include banks, insurance firms and debt funds, debt investors, rating agencies, loan servicers, law firms and other specialist advisers, as well as a growing group of real estate firms (i.e. borrowers/sponsors).

What we do

As the collective voice of the industry, we seek to lead on the regulatory, best practice and education aspects of real estate finance. In particular, we:

• Provide information, professional development and networking opportunities to members and other market participants
• Enable those with up to 10 years' industry experience to connect and learn through our network for Young Professionals in Real Estate Finance (YPREF)
• Give our industry a voice with regulators and policymakers, helping them understand its function and how it works, so as to reduce the risk of policy errors and unintended consequences, and provide feedback and insights to members about policy dialogues
• Promote our industry among borrowers, capital providers and in the media, collaborating with other industry organisations where appropriate
• Take a strategic, holistic approach to promote conditions that allow market participants to prosper and adapt in a changing and uncertain world, while supporting the real economy responsibly and delivering returns to investors.

Our activities are conducted in compliance with our competition policy.

Membership Benefits

Membership offers the chance to be part of the conversation that helps shape the future of Europe’s real estate finance industry. Since the global financial crisis, our sector has proved vulnerable to regulatory change which has had many unintended consequences. More recently, structural changes accelerated, revealed or provoked by the pandemic and the broader, growing focus on climate change and ESG considerations add to the challenges and uncertainties facing real estate lenders and those seeking finance. You can stay informed about that shifting landscape to support your own business, and help us try to safeguard the industry’s future by informing and participating in our dialogue with regulators.

Membership is corporate, so all staff can enjoy the networking, learning and influencing opportunities we offer, including:

• Attendance free of charge at our industry seminars and webinars, and at pre- or post-conference education sessions for young professionals
• Access to invitation-only events like our annual summer reception and the launch of the national property debt reports we support
• Discounted rates to attend our conferences (and occasional other paid events), as well as the events organised by CREFC in the US (Investor Members, whether investing in real estate debt or real estate, may be entitled to complimentary access to our conferences)
• The ability to get involved in our regulatory committee and other working groups and industry initiatives tackling a range of issues affecting our sector, creating industry guidelines or educating regulators and market participants about particular topics
• News and information about market and regulatory developments and our own activities through our weekly newsletter and other communications and briefings.

Membership is corporate. Our membership year is the calendar year (rates can be pro rated to the nearest quarter for those joining during the course of the year).

Fees

The main membership rate is £5,500+ VAT. A reduced rate of £2,750 + VAT applies for organisations with no more than ten people involved in CRE finance in Europe.

Firms that invest in CRE debt without an origination platform of their own (for example as bond investors or limited partners in CRE debt funds) are eligible to join as Investor Members at a special rate of £1,500 + VAT. Real estate firms (i.e. borrowers/sponsors) that are not also involved in CRE loan origination are also eligible to join as Investor Members  at a cost of £1,500 + VAT.