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Bridging finance is short-term property-secured lending, typically arranged over 1 to 24 months, designed for situations where a standard mortgage is too slow, unavailable, or inappropriate for the property or transaction type. The UK bridging market has grown substantially in recent years and stood at approximately £13.4 billion in outstanding balances in 2025. Monthly interest rates range from 0.55% for the most competitive cases to 1.5% or above for complex or high-risk applications, with the market average sitting around 0.72% per month.
Bridging finance is not cheap compared to a standard mortgage. A 0.72% monthly rate equates to approximately 9% per annum. But it is considerably more expensive to miss an auction purchase, lose your purchase because your sale collapsed, or fail to complete a refurbishment project for lack of funds. Bridging finance solves specific, time-critical problems that no other product can.
A regulated bridge is secured against a property that is, or will be, the borrower primary residence. It is governed by FCA regulations and the Mortgage Credit Directive. Chain-break bridging for home movers is the most common regulated bridge. Regulated products come with the same consumer protections as a standard residential mortgage.
An unregulated bridge is secured against an investment or commercial property, or against a residential property the borrower does not and will not live in. Property developers, landlords, and investors typically use unregulated bridges. The rules are governed by contract law rather than FCA regulation, though responsible lenders still follow industry best practice guidelines.
Auction properties require completion within 28 days of the fall of the hammer. No standard mortgage can complete in that timeframe. Bridging finance can. Many professional auction buyers use a bridge to complete the purchase, refurbish the property, and then refinance to a standard BTL or sell at an improved price.
When your sale falls through but your purchase is ready to complete, a regulated bridge secured against your existing property lets you proceed with the purchase. You repay the bridge when your property eventually sells.
Bridging lenders are comfortable lending against properties in poor condition, unmortgageable by standard lenders. They advance funds to purchase, and some offer drawdown facilities to fund the refurbishment works. On completion of the works, the property is refinanced to a standard mortgage at the improved value.
A bridge allows a developer to acquire a site before it has planning permission, with the intention of applying for planning, achieving the gain in value that planning brings, and then refinancing or selling. The exit is the planning-enhanced value, either via sale or development finance.
Bridging finance is typically interest-only. Interest is either serviced monthly during the loan, retained from the advance and charged at redemption, or rolled into the loan balance. Rolled interest means you do not make monthly payments but the balance increases over time. Retained interest is deducted from the net advance at the start. Serviced interest suits borrowers with strong cash flow. Rolled interest suits development situations where cash is tied up in works.
Arrangement fees are typically 1 to 2% of the loan amount. Exit fees, charged at redemption, may apply and should be checked. Legal fees are payable on both sides, borrower and lender.
A bridge without a clear exit strategy is a bridge that will not be approved. The exit is either the sale of the property or a refinance to a standard mortgage. We establish the exit clearly before approaching any lender.
We search across our panel of specialist bridging lenders for the rate, LTV, and terms most suited to the transaction. Some lenders are faster. Some are more flexible on property type. Some offer drawdown facilities. The right lender depends on the specific case.
We obtain indicative terms from the shortlisted lender before proceeding. These are non-binding but give a clear picture of the rate, fee, LTV, and any special conditions before costs are incurred.
The lender commissions a valuation. For auction finance, the valuation may be undertaken on a desktop or drive-by basis to meet the tight timeline.
Legal work runs in parallel with valuation. On completion of both, the funds draw down. Speed depends on the lender and the legal team. Well-prepared cases can complete in five to seven working days.
Run the numbers, then talk to us. Our financial calculators cover mortgage repayments, how much you could borrow, stamp duty, bridging finance and rental yield. Results are estimates only and should not be relied on as financial advice.
Bridging finance can be used for more than simply moving quickly.
Here are some of the situations our advisers regularly help clients navigate.
The answer is preparation before the auction, not after. You should have an Agreement in Principle from a bridging lender in place before you bid. You need a solicitor instructed and ready to act quickly. You need a surveyor who can value quickly. And you need to understand the exit strategy clearly: are you going to refurbish and sell, or refurbish and hold as a BTL? The latter requires a BTL mortgage as the exit, and you need to be confident the property will qualify for one at the end of the works. We see clients who buy at auction and then come to us in a panic on day three of 28. The outcome is rarely good. Come to us the week before and we can have the lender, solicitor, and valuer lined up before you walk into the auction room.
Yes, in most cases. This is the scenario regulated bridging was designed for. The bridge is secured against your existing property. The net advance is used to complete the purchase. Your existing property goes back on the market. When it sells, the bridge is repaid. The total cost of the bridge for a two to three month period is manageable compared to losing the purchase entirely and restarting the search. The key requirement is that you have sufficient equity in your existing property to secure the bridge, and that the lender is satisfied you can service or roll the interest during the bridge period.
Yes, and this is a well-established strategy in development finance. An outline planning consent increases site value significantly. Full planning increases it further. A bridge allows you to acquire at the outline consent price, fund the planning application for full consent, and either sell at the improved price or move to development finance for the build. The bridge is underwritten against the current value with outline permission. The lender security is the site and the planning. The exit is sale at the full consent price or a development finance facility. This is an unregulated bridge. We work with lenders experienced in planning gain finance who understand the specific valuation methodology.
Yes. If you already own a property with equity, a bridge secured against your existing property gives you access to liquidity while you wait for probate to complete on the inherited estate. There is no requirement to wait for the probate process. The bridge is arranged against your current assets, with a defined exit, typically the realisation of the inherited estate or a refinance. This is a regulated or unregulated bridge depending on whether the security property is your home or an investment property.
Speak to an adviser to discuss your circumstances and explore how bridging finance could work for you.
Clear,honest answers to the questions we hear most from clients and introducers.
Most bridging lenders advance up to 70 to 75% of the open market value on a standard case. Some specialist lenders go to 80%. The LTV calculates on either the current value or, for development cases, a combination of current value and Gross Development Value. Higher LTVs attract higher rates and more comprehensive credit assessment.
The fastest regulated bridge completions happen in five to seven working days with a motivated lender, experienced solicitors on both sides, and a borrower who has all documentation ready. Unregulated bridges can sometimes be faster. The typical timeline for a well-prepared case is one to three weeks.
Most bridging lenders will offer a term extension if the exit is credible and delayed by circumstances outside the borrower control. Extension fees and continuing interest apply. If the exit fails entirely and the loan cannot be repaid, the lender has the right to take possession of the security property. This is a real risk that we discuss explicitly with every bridging client.
More so than with a standard mortgage. Bridging lenders focus primarily on the security and the exit strategy rather than the borrower personal credit profile. However, adverse credit still matters to most lenders, and the rate will reflect the risk. There are specialist adverse credit bridging lenders who consider applications that mainstream bridging lenders would decline.
We search the market and handle the process so you can focus on moving.
Whole of market search across a wide panel of lenders
Dedicated adviser throughout the process
We handle the paperwork and liaise with lenders on your behalf
