Bridging Finance
A practical overview and cost calculator for unregulated short-term property finance. Specialist bridging enquiries are handled by our in house team at Sterling Bridging Finance.
Short-term finance depends on the security and the exit.
A bridging application needs a clear purpose, suitable security and a credible repayment plan. Use this page to understand the structure and estimate costs, then continue to Sterling for the specialist enquiry journey.
- Auction purchases
- Chain breaks
- Light & heavy refurbishment
- Development exit
- Unmortgageable property
- Bad credit / complex income
See your numbers in seconds.
Commercial, buy-to-let or bridging: adjust the assumptions to see an indicative breakdown, then email the figures or ask us to review a real requirement.
When short-term property finance may be considered.
Auction bridging
A short-term route may be considered where an auction purchase has a fixed completion deadline and a credible exit.
Unmortgageable property
Finance may be considered where a property has no kitchen or bathroom, structural issues, a short lease or non-standard construction.
Development exit
Completed or near-completed schemes may use short-term finance to refinance development debt while sales or longer-term finance progress.
How bridging finance works.
A bridging loan is short-term funding secured against property, designed to cover a gap before a proposed longer-term solution such as a sale or refinance.
Bridging is priced using a monthly interest rate. Depending on the lender and case, interest may be paid monthly, added to the balance or deducted in advance. The term, leverage and total cost must be checked against the lender's written terms.
Every bridge needs an exit
The single most important part of any bridging application is the exit: how the loan will be repaid. Proposed exits may include a sale or refinancing onto longer-term finance. The lender will test whether the proposed route is credible and has a workable fallback.
Our unregulated bridging scope
We deal only with unregulated bridging for investment, commercial or business purposes. We do not handle regulated residential bridging, including finance secured against a property you or an immediate family member live in or intend to occupy.
What lenders look at
- The exit: how and when the loan will be repaid
- The security property, valuation basis and requested loan-to-value
- First or second charge, and any additional security offered
- The purpose: purchase, refurbishment, capital raise or refinance
- Experience, for development and heavy-refurbishment cases
Our bridging service is limited to unregulated investment, commercial and business-purpose finance. Do not submit a regulated residential bridging enquiry.
Common questions.
Timing depends on the lender, property, valuation, title, legal work and how quickly complete information is supplied. A deadline should not be treated as achievable until the relevant parties have assessed the case.
The exit is how the bridge will be repaid, often through a sale or refinance. The lender will assess the timing, evidence and fallback rather than relying on the stated plan alone.
Interest may be serviced monthly, rolled up and paid at the end, or retained at the outset, subject to the lender's terms and the requirements of the case.
It may be possible where the security and exit are acceptable, but the credit history and property issue must be disclosed and assessed rather than assumed to be acceptable.
Allow for interest, lender fees, valuation, legal work and any broker or third-party costs shown in the written terms. The calculator is an adjustable illustration and does not include every possible charge.