May 2026 Round Up

A look at what we have been working on across bridging, commercial and development finance in May 2026, the trend that keeps coming back to my desk, and where rates and lender appetite have landed.

The CasesWhat we have been working on

Over the last month we have been working on some interesting cases including several care home purchases across the UK including first time care operators, regulated bridging loans for HNW clients with assets over £3m, commercial mortgages for trading businesses ranging from £320,000 for a retail business in the South West to a £7m facility for a logistics business in Dover, several large portfolio transactions including a below market value portfolio transaction for £40m+ and a complex BVI structured bridge on a commercial property in the North West of the UK.

As experts in bridging and commercial we have been busy advising clients and unpicking the cases to make them amenable to lenders to fund. What unpicking actually looks like in practice is mapping out a complex case on a single page so a credit committee can read it in two minutes rather than two hours. With a first time care home operator that means setting out the management team's track record from previous roles, and showing the lender exactly where the operational experience sits behind the borrower. With a BVI structured deal it means tracing the ownership chain back to the ultimate beneficiary so source of funds is straightforward rather than tangled. With a below market value portfolio it means explaining why the price is what it is, not just stating that it is. The cases that fund are not always the cleanest cases. They are the cases that are presented clearly.

The TrendAsset rich, income poor: a story I see more and more

Making that decision to sell a property that has been home for 20 plus years is always the difficult part and unfortunately some leave it too late. I find myself working with clients in this situation more and more and advising them of their options and formulating a plan to enable them to continue meeting living costs whilst managing a timely sale of their often HNW property. The cases that work best are the ones where we get the conversation early enough to give the sale 12 to 18 months on the market rather than rushing it through in three. A regulated bridge with the right term gives that runway and removes the pressure that forces people to drop the price.

The ToolsOur calculators, and who is using them

Our tools continue to prove useful to clients who are using them. We now have a whole suite of free calculators designed to help our clients understand their funding options before they pick up the phone, not after.

A property investor looking at a five-bed HMO conversion in Bristol can run the numbers on what the property is worth as an HMO versus what it is worth as a single residential dwelling. A developer looking at a small scheme can sense-check whether their profit on cost is going to clear the lender's hurdle. A HNW client thinking about a £2m bridge against a £4m home can model the rolled-up interest before they commit to anything. The calculators give people a starting point. The phone call is then about the structure that actually gets the deal done.

The MarketWhere rates have landed in May 2026

I was hoping to see lower rates by this time of the year, but global issues have stalled any further reductions and uncertainty over the UK government leadership has caused wobbles in the markets closer to home. How we could do with some strong leadership that rewards businesses and those that work hard rather than trying to tax the life out of everything that moves.

For the lenders we work with, rates have held steady through the spring. Trading business commercial mortgages still pricing in the 4.5% to 5% range for the cleaner cases, prime commercial investment from around base plus 1.75% to 2.25%, and HNW regulated bridging from around 0.55% per month on the standard route and from 0.30% per month where the right private bank relationship is in place.

What's NextWhat we are here for

We continue to advise UK clients on large loans particularly in the £1m to £250m lending bracket working with everyone from developers, landlords and private individuals. If you have a case that needs working through, or you want to talk through a structure before you commit to it, give us a call.