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Bridging Loans
I’ve been arranging bridging since 2013, and most of what lands on my desk is the deal somebody else couldn’t place. Send me yours and I’ll give you a straight answer, usually the same day.
A bridging loan does one job: it gets you to completion when the clock is against you. It is short-term finance secured against property, typically three to twenty-four months, with the interest usually retained or rolled up so there is nothing to pay monthly while the loan runs. You use it to buy at auction, break a chain, fund a heavy refurb or raise capital quickly, then you exit by selling or refinancing onto a term mortgage.
I set up Advanced Funding Solutions in December 2013 and bridging has been the backbone of the business ever since. More than 2,400 completed deals later, the pattern hasn’t changed much. The cases that come to me are usually the ones somebody else has already had a go at. A lender pulled out at valuation. A broker sat on the file for three weeks. An auction deadline that looked comfortable until it wasn’t.
Twelve years of this teaches you something worth knowing before you borrow. Bridging deals rarely fall over because the property is bad. They fall over because the exit wasn’t credible, the legal pack wasn’t read properly, or the case landed with a lender who was never going to do it. All three are packaging problems. All three are avoidable. So before I speak to any lender, I want your exit nailed down and evidenced, because a credible exit does more for your terms than any amount of haggling over rate.
I arrange bridging for investors, developers and business owners across the UK. First and second charge, single assets or cross-charged portfolios, personal names or SPVs and group structures. The straightforward deals get done quickly. The complicated ones, adverse credit, title splits, non-standard construction, seven-bed sui generis conversions, are honestly the part of the job I enjoy.
"I needed bridging to purchase a post-auction property. I had no capital of my own, but security through another property, and a two-week completion timetable through the auction house. Chris found a lender willing to fund the purchase and the refurb, and pulled out all the stops to get it done."
Written by Chris Adlam
Founder of Advanced Funding Solutions. Chris has arranged specialist property finance since December 2013 and personally packages and places every deal the firm takes on. Book a call with him directly.
Also see: Auction Finance · BRR & Conversion Bridging · HMO & Multi-Unit Finance · Free Deal Stacking Calculator
Five minutes on the phone and I’ll tell you whether it can be placed, what it will cost and how fast it can move. Straight answer either way.
Frequently asked questions
Faster than most people expect and slower than some lenders advertise. Straightforward deals complete in 5 to 10 working days; most take 2 to 4 weeks. In my experience the lender is rarely the bottleneck. It is the valuation booking and the solicitors, which is why I chase both from day one rather than waiting for problems. Indicative terms are typically with you within 24 hours.
Typically up to 75% loan to value, and up to 100% of the purchase price where you can offer additional security, since some lenders will work from open market value rather than the price you are paying. All figures are indicative, for UK incorporated businesses only and subject to credit underwriting.
Two, in practice: sale of the property or refinance onto a term mortgage. Everything else is a variation on those. The exit is the first thing I look at on any enquiry, because a bridge without a credible, evidenced exit is not a plan, it is a countdown. Get the exit right and the rest of the deal tends to follow.
Usually, yes. Bridging lenders care about the security and the exit far more than the credit file. What kills these cases is hiding the history and letting the lender find it, which they always do. Tell me everything upfront, we present it properly with the explanation attached, and it becomes a footnote rather than a decline.
Question not answered? WhatsApp Chris directly or book a call, it is quicker than email.
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