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Bridging Finance

Bridging Finance

By: Bridging Finance
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UK bridging finance explained with the published market data: what bridging loans cost, how lenders size them, and how borrowers use them well. From the team at bridgefinancing.co.uk.Bridging Finance 2026
Episodes
  • Bridging Finance: 2026 Market Outlook | Rates, Products and the 55 Day Completion

    Bridging Finance: 2026 Market Outlook | Rates, Products and the 55 Day Completion
    Jul 9 2026
    Bridging finance is short term property lending that moves at the speed a transaction demands, and in 2026 it is a mainstream market: a loan book of 10.3 billion pounds, roughly 280 million pounds of gross lending a quarter, and around 45 percent of it regulated lending secured on homes, according to the Association of Short Term Lenders (ASTL) and the industry tracker Bridging Trends. In this pillar episode, host Georgina walks through what a bridging loan actually costs this year, how specialist lenders size one, and the five jobs bridging is doing across the UK property market, with every figure drawn from the published data rather than guesswork. The written analysis behind the episode, by Matt Lenzie, lives at Bridging Finance.The numbers this episode coversBridging loan rates average 0.88 percent a month across the market, with strong cases priced from around 0.5 percent (Bridging Trends, 2025). Average leverage sits at 60 percent loan to value, and most first charge bridging loans are written between 55 and 75 percent LTV. The average term is 12 months inside a 1 to 24 month product range, and the average completion takes 55 days from enquiry to money out, while a well prepared case completes in 2 to 3 weeks. The backdrop to all of it is a Bank of England base rate held at 3.75 percent since December 2025. What separates a 0.5 percent case from the average, and a 20 day completion from a 55 day one, is exactly what the episode unpacks: leverage, charge position, the property itself, the strength of the exit, and the borrower behind the loan. The bridging loan product guide sets out the same mechanics in writing.Chapters00:00 Welcome and who we are00:51 The backdrop: base rate and the size of the UK bridging market01:42 What a bridging loan is and why the exit drives everything02:27 The numbers: average rates, loan to value and completion times03:22 Chain breaks and regulated bridging on the borrower's own home03:43 Auction finance and the 28 day completion deadline04:11 Refurbishment bridging and the 75 percent day one ceiling04:41 The developer exit at practical completion05:17 Fast bridging and second charge borrowing05:51 The five drivers of your bridging loan rate06:38 Costs beyond the rate: arrangement, valuation, legals and exit fees07:02 How to bring a case to market so it completes in weeks07:34 The 12 month outlook for UK bridging08:14 CloseWhere bridging is doing its work in 2026The episode walks five live use cases. The classic chain break, where a bridge keeps a home move alive when a sale falls through, sits at the regulated end of the market. Auction finance is built around the 28 day completion convention that no mainstream mortgage reliably meets, and it also funds the lots no mortgage lender will touch until the works are done. Refurbishment bridging advances up to 75 percent of day one value with the works funded in stages. The developer exit repays a development facility once a scheme reaches practical completion, covered in depth in the development exit finance guide. And raw speed cases, including second charge bridging that raises capital without disturbing a cheap first charge mortgage, round out the set.Read the full guide seriesBridging finance: the 2026 market outlookResidential bridging loans: chain breaks, buying before you sellAuction finance: funding the 28 day deadlineDevelopment exit bridging: repaying the build loanRefurbishment bridging loans: light and heavy worksFast bridging loans: what genuinely completes in weeksSecond charge bridging: borrowing behind your mortgageBridging loan rates: the full cost stackMore from the deskBridging finance in 2026: what is actually getting funded and on what termsThe arithmetic of a bridging loan: sizing, pricing and the exitFast completions: why the average bridge takes 55 daysThe five variables that price a bridging loanBridging Finance sits within the Construction Capital family of UK property finance brands, one of the UK's leading development finance brokerages. To talk through a live case, start at raising capital fast or the main site.
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    9 mins
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