Commercial bridging loans
UK commercial bridging finance is short-term (3 to 24 months), asset-backed lending for time-sensitive deals. Typical uses: auction property completions inside 28 days, refurbishment-to-let or refurbishment-to-sell, chain breaks, refinance bridges, and transitional facilities while a longer-term commercial mortgage is arranged. Tickets £100,000 to £10m+ on first-charge property security, typical LTV up to 75%. Specialist UK bridging lenders price on LTV and clarity of exit, not borrower credit history, and can fund inside 5 to 21 days.
Founder & Managing Director, Muswell Rose, FundBiz
Adam is the founder and managing director of Muswell Rose and a founder of Best Business Loans Ltd, the company behind FundBiz. His background runs through commercial finance, mortgages and fintech, including as managing director of an invoice finance business. He oversees FundBiz's guides and lender reviews.
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At a glance
- Ticket size
- £100,000 to £10m+
- Typical LTV
- Up to 75% (lower for non-vanilla assets)
- Term
- 3 to 24 months
- Typical rate
- 0.55% to 1.5% per month
- Decision
- 3 to 7 business days (faster on clean deals)
- Exit
- Sale, refinance to long-term, or asset disposal
When bridging fits
- Auction purchase. 28-day completion impossible via mainstream commercial mortgage.
- Chain break. Buyer's existing finance falls through; bridge to keep the deal alive.
- Refurbishment to let. Acquire and refurbish, then refinance onto a long-term commercial mortgage at the increased valuation.
- Below-market purchase. Distressed sale at below-market price; speed beats rate.
- Inheritance / probate. Bridge against an asset coming through probate.
When it doesn't
Bridging is expensive. Per-month rates of 0.7% to 1.2% work out to APRs above 10% even before arrangement and exit fees. The right question is not "can I bridge?" but "what is my exit?" If you cannot evidence the exit, do not bridge. The exit risk diagnostic tests a sale, refinance or term-out against what you will owe.
And bridging isn't build finance. A ground-up scheme or heavy structural conversion needs staged, monitored drawdowns sized against the finished value, which is property development finance, a different facility with different underwriting.
UK lenders in this market
Specialist bridging lenders only: MFS, Octopus Real Estate, Hope Capital, Roma Finance, Together Money, Precise Mortgages (commercial bridging arm), plus institutional bridging lenders for larger tickets.
Sense-check the cost
Bridging is short-term, fee-heavy and only pencils out when the exit is clean. Stress-test the monthly cost against your interim cashflow before applying.
- Bridging total cost calculator Gross vs net advance, retained vs rolled vs serviced interest, fees, true cost over the days you actually hold it.
- Bridging exit risk diagnostic What you will owe on the exit date, tested against a sale, a refinance and a term-out, with late and lower-value scenarios.
- Affordability ratio DSCR-style check that the bridging monthly is covered without straining the operating business.
- Working capital cycle Map the gap the bridge actually has to span: DSO, inventory, payables.