Bridging Loan Brokers UK
FD Commercial is a specialist bridging loan broker arranging loans from £250,000 across England, Scotland and Wales. As a broker rather than a lender, we place each case with the lender whose criteria, pricing, and speed fit it, across regulated bridging, where the security is a property you or a family member will occupy, and unregulated bridging for investment, commercial, and development transactions. No broker fees on most cases: we are paid by the lender, not by you.
Bridging finance fills gaps that longer-term lending cannot. The speed to completion, flexibility on property condition and ownership structure, and willingness to lend where a mortgage cannot be arranged make bridging the right tool when the transaction demands it.
What is a bridging loan?
A bridging loan is short-term secured finance arranged against a property asset. It is designed to complete quickly, often in days or a few weeks, when conventional mortgage finance cannot be arranged in the time available or on the property in its current condition.
Our guides to how bridging loans work and bridging loan criteria cover the mechanics and lending rules step by step.
The loan is repaid through a pre-agreed exit strategy: the sale of the security property, a refinance onto a long-term mortgage or commercial mortgage, or the completion and sale of a development. Lenders require a credible, documented exit before approving. A well-evidenced exit strategy is the single most important factor in any bridging application.
Bridging costs more than a long-term mortgage in rate terms. Rates are quoted monthly because facilities are designed to last months, not years. The cost is justified when speed or the nature of the transaction makes a conventional mortgage unworkable.
Regulated bridging loans
Regulated bridging is secured against a property the borrower or an immediate family member occupies or intends to occupy. FCA regulation applies, which means additional consumer protections under the Mortgage Credit Directive and specific requirements around how interest can be structured.
The most common use is a chain break. Your property purchase depends on selling your existing home, your buyer pulls out or the chain collapses, and you need to complete the new purchase before losing it. A regulated bridging loan, secured against your existing property, funds the purchase. You repay the bridge when your existing home sells.
Other uses include buy-before-you-sell transactions where you want to move into your new home before listing the existing one, and equity release from an unencumbered residential property ahead of a planned sale. Our guide to regulated bridging loans UK covers how the regulated and unregulated products differ and which applies to your case.
A client purchasing a £1,400,000 property in Surrey needed to complete quickly before their existing home had sold. We arranged a regulated bridging loan of £1,400,000 secured against the existing property. The purchase completed within three weeks. Five months later, the original property sold at the asking price, repaying the bridge in full.
Full guide to regulated bridging loans · Chain break bridging loans
Commercial and investment bridging
Unregulated bridging covers transactions where the security is not a property the borrower will occupy: investment property, commercial property, and business-purpose lending. There are no FCA restrictions on interest structures for unregulated facilities, giving lenders more flexibility on how the deal is structured.
Commercial bridging loans fund acquisitions, refinances, and repositioning projects across all property types: offices, retail units, industrial premises, warehouses, pubs, hotels, care homes, and semi-commercial property. They are also used to bridge the gap between a commercial purchase at auction and the arrangement of a long-term commercial mortgage.
Where the borrowing is for the business rather than the property itself, our guide to business bridging loans covers the uses, the rates and the exit routes lenders will accept.
Buy-to-let investors use commercial bridging to acquire properties that are not immediately mortgageable due to condition, vacancy, or title issues, refurbish them, and then refinance onto a standard BTL mortgage. This bridge-to-let structure is one of the most common sequences we arrange.
LTV up to 70% to 75% on commercial security, higher on prime assets. Limited companies, partnerships, SPVs, and offshore structures are all accepted across the lender pool.
Auction finance
Property auctions require exchange on the day and completion within 28 days. That timeline eliminates standard mortgage options for most buyers. Bridging finance is the standard funding route for auction purchasers because it can complete within the required window on both residential and commercial property.
We provide decisions in principle within 24 to 48 hours and structure auction cases for completion within 14 to 21 days on well-prepared transactions. Instructing solicitors before the auction, having your identity verification ready, and having your exit strategy clearly documented are the steps that make fast completion achievable.
If you are bidding at auction and want to confirm your funding position before the hammer falls, call us before the auction date. We can confirm indicative terms and give you a realistic view of completion timelines for the specific lot.
Refurbishment bridging
Refurbishment bridging loans fund both the acquisition of a property and the cost of renovation works within a single facility. The purchase advance is released at completion. Subsequent drawdowns are released as works progress and are independently verified by a monitoring surveyor appointed by the lender.
Light refurbishment covers cosmetic works: kitchens, bathrooms, redecoration, minor reconfigurations. Heavy refurbishment includes structural alterations, extensions, loft conversions, and commercial-to-residential conversions. Both can be funded within a bridging facility; heavier works attract tighter scrutiny of the schedule of works and contractor credentials.
Total borrowing is assessed against the gross development value on completion rather than the current value. Maximum LTV is typically 70% to 75% of the current value, up to 100% of verified works costs, provided the overall facility remains within the lender's GDV limit. If works overrun, lenders are not obliged to increase the facility, which makes accurate upfront cost planning essential.
A client purchased a semi-commercial property at £750,000 requiring £200,000 of renovation works. We arranged a £900,000 refurbishment bridging loan covering both the acquisition and the full renovation cost. Works were funded in four staged drawdowns over nine months. The completed property was then refinanced onto a long-term commercial mortgage, repaying the bridge and releasing equity.
Development exit bridging
When a development facility approaches maturity and the scheme is at or near practical completion, development exit bridging replaces the development loan and provides time to complete individual unit sales or arrange long-term refinance.
Development exit rates are typically lower than development finance rates because the construction risk has passed. The security is a completed or near-completed asset rather than a site in progress, which broadens the lender pool and tightens pricing. Lenders assess development exit cases primarily on the quality and value of the completed scheme, the sales rate where units are being sold, and the credibility of the refinance where the exit is a long-term mortgage.
Large bridging loans
For transactions above £1,000,000, the lender pool changes. High-street bridging lenders are largely absent at this scale. Private banks, family offices, and institutional lenders provide the majority of large bridging facilities, and they are accessed through broker relationships rather than directly.
Rates improve at scale. A transaction at 55% LTV that might attract 0.85% to 0.90% per month at £500,000 can achieve 0.60% to 0.70% at £5,000,000 where the risk profile is strong and lenders are competing for the business. Arrangement fees are negotiable, and on £5,000,000+ transactions a 1% fee rather than the standard 1.5% to 2% is regularly achievable.
We arrange large bridging loans for substantial commercial acquisitions, multi-security portfolio refinances, prestige residential transactions, and development exits on larger schemes. Offshore structures, complex corporate ownership, and non-standard income sources are all within the panel's appetite.
Bridging loan costs
Interest is quoted monthly and ranges from 0.55% per month for low-LTV residential transactions with strong exits, up to 1.2% or above for high-LTV commercial or adverse-credit cases. Total cost for a six to twelve month facility, including arrangement fee, valuation, legal fees, and interest, typically falls between 7% and 15% of the loan amount.
Commercial security prices differently from residential, and the fee stack matters as much as the headline rate. Our guide to commercial bridging loan rates sets out the current bands by asset type.
Our bridging loan rates guide is reviewed monthly and shows the current bands by product and loan to value.
FD Commercial charges no broker fees on most cases. On a £1,500,000 loan, that saves £15,000 to £30,000 compared to firms charging 1% to 2%. We also have comprehensive access to the market, so avoiding the fee does not mean fewer lenders or worse terms.
Full bridging loan costs and fees guide with worked examples at £300,000, £1.5m and £5m
Work out the interest, fees and total cost of your bridging loan before you enquire.
Use the bridging loan calculatorWhy use a bridging loan broker instead of going direct?
A bridging loan broker sees the whole market; a lender only sees its own products. Bridging lenders differ enormously in criteria, pricing, valuation approach, and speed, and most of the sharpest lenders work primarily or exclusively through brokers. Going direct means picking one lender before you know whether it is the right one, and if it declines or reprices mid-process, you start again with the clock still running.
The broker's job is lender selection, packaging, and pace. We know which lender takes your asset type at your LTV, which one will use a desktop valuation when the deadline is tight, and which one's legal process actually completes in two weeks rather than promising to. In most of the cases we arrange, the value of getting that match right is worth more than any fee saving from going direct, and with FD Commercial there is no fee to save anyway.
How we work
We assess your situation, loan requirement, security, and exit strategy. Most applications can be assessed in one call. We tell you upfront if the deal is workable and what terms to expect.
We approach suitable lenders and return with indicative terms, typically within 24 to 48 hours. We present the options clearly with a recommended route.
Once you select a lender, we package the application, instruct the valuer, and manage the process from submission through to offer. We handle the lender queries so you do not have to.
Your solicitor and the lender's solicitor conduct their respective due diligence. We coordinate both sides and flag delays before they affect your completion date.
Funds are released once all conditions are satisfied. On straightforward cases with an organised borrower, this can happen within days of formal application being submitted.
How do I choose a bridging loan broker?
Four things separate a good bridging broker from a bad one: market access without a fixed panel, transparency on how they are paid, evidence they place cases like yours, and honesty about deals that do not work. Ask any broker how many lenders they placed cases with last year, whether they charge a fee on top of lender commission, and what happens if the first lender declines. The answers tell you everything.
Our guides cover this in detail: how to choose a regulated bridging loan broker, and what bridging loan brokers charge and how fee-free broking works.
FD Commercial arranges bridging loans from £250,000 with no broker fees on most cases. Call us for an honest assessment of your options on the same day.
Every type of bridging loan we arrange
Seventeen product pages, one bridging market. Each page covers rates, criteria, lenders and worked examples for that use case.
Recent case studies
£12m London MUFB: Gateway 2 bridge into development finance
£3.6m regulated buy before you sell bridge, Virginia Water
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum bridging loan FD Commercial arranges?
£250,000. There is no upper limit on suitable transactions. Facilities of £50 million and above are available through our lender relationships.
How much does a bridging loan cost?
Rates typically run from 0.55% to 1.2% per month. Total cost including all fees for a six to twelve month facility generally falls between 7% and 15% of the loan amount. See our full costs and fees guide with worked examples at three loan sizes.
What is the difference between regulated and unregulated bridging?
Regulated bridging is secured against a property the borrower or a family member occupies or intends to occupy. FCA regulation and consumer protections apply. Unregulated bridging covers investment and commercial transactions. There are fewer restrictions on loan structure for unregulated facilities.
How quickly can you arrange a bridging loan?
Decisions in principle within 24 to 48 hours on most cases. Completion in two to four weeks for straightforward transactions. Auction cases are structured for the 28-day completion deadline. Complex transactions involving commercial property or corporate structures typically take three to six weeks.
Does FD Commercial charge broker fees?
No broker fees on most cases. On a £1,000,000 loan, not paying 1% to 2% saves £10,000 to £20,000. We have comprehensive access to the market, so there is no trade-off between the saving and your lender options.
Why use a bridging loan broker instead of going direct to a lender?
A broker sees the whole bridging market; a lender only offers its own products. Most of the sharpest bridging lenders work primarily through brokers, and lender selection drives the rate, the valuation route, and whether the deal completes on time. Going direct means committing to one lender before knowing whether it is the right one.
How do I choose the best bridging loan broker in the UK?
Look for genuine market access rather than a fixed panel, transparency on how the broker is paid, evidence of placing cases like yours, and honesty about deals that do not stack. Ask how many lenders they completed with last year, whether a fee is charged on top of lender commission, and what happens if the first-choice lender declines.
What is the maximum LTV on a bridging loan?
Up to 75% LTV on standard residential security. Commercial property typically faces 65% to 70% LTV. Prime assets can sometimes achieve higher. Borrowing within 65% LTV substantially improves your rate and the lenders available to you.
Can I get a bridging loan with adverse credit?
Yes. Specialist lenders assess applications primarily on security value and exit strategy. Adverse credit does not automatically disqualify you, though it will affect rate and lender selection. The severity, age, and cause of the adverse credit all factor into pricing.
What exit strategies do bridging lenders accept?
The most common exits are: sale of the security property, refinance onto a long-term mortgage or commercial mortgage, and development completion followed by sale of units. A well-documented exit with supporting evidence, comparable sales data or a mortgage agreement in principle, strengthens your application and supports better terms.
What is rolled-up interest?
Rolled-up interest accumulates throughout the loan term and is repaid alongside the principal at redemption. No monthly payments are required. The total cost is marginally higher than monthly interest servicing because interest compounds on the unpaid balance. It is the most common structure for investment and development bridging where monthly cash flow needs to be preserved.
Can bridging loans fund refurbishment works?
Yes. Refurbishment bridging funds both the acquisition and the renovation costs within a single facility. Works funds are drawn down in stages as verified by a monitoring surveyor. Total borrowing is assessed against the gross development value on completion, not the current value.
What is a commercial bridging loan?
Short-term secured finance against a non-residential or mixed-use property. Covers offices, retail, industrial, warehouses, pubs, hotels, care homes, and semi-commercial property. Commonly used for auction acquisitions, refinancing existing commercial debt, funding refurbishment, and bridging to a long-term commercial mortgage.
What happens if I cannot repay on time?
Default interest at a higher rate than your contracted terms is triggered. Sustained non-payment gives the lender grounds to enforce their security. Contact your broker or lender early if you foresee difficulty. Extension terms are sometimes available, but easier to negotiate before default than after.
What security do bridging lenders require?
A legal charge over the security property. Usually a first charge, though second charge is possible where an existing mortgage is in place. Security can be residential, commercial, semi-commercial, or development land. Multiple properties can secure a single facility to increase borrowing or reduce blended LTV.
Can I use multiple properties as security?
Yes. Cross-collateralising multiple properties can increase total borrowing or reduce blended LTV. Legal fees and valuation costs increase with each additional property. Common for portfolio investors looking to maximise gearing across existing assets.
Can overseas investors use bridging loans in the UK?
Yes. Overseas investors and foreign nationals are considered by a number of lenders we work with. Criteria and maximum LTV may differ from standard UK-resident applications. We confirm availability and likely terms on the first call.