Bridging Loan Case Studies Essex

The borrower picked up a tired SS1 mixed-use building at a regional auction with a 28-day completion deadline. Ground-floor retail had been dark for nine months and the two flats above were habitable but dated. Standard commercial lenders would not move at auction pace.

We had the auction pack on our desk by 8am the next morning. Indicative terms came back from MT Finance inside 24 hours. The borrower signed and we packaged the file the same week. Valuation landed inside 5 working days and legals ran in parallel using title insurance to bridge a missing planning history note. Completion landed 13 working days after the hammer fell, with 15 days of the auction clock still on it.

An experienced landlord bought a four-bed Victorian semi in CM1 for conversion to a five-let HMO targeting Anglia Ruskin University students and Chelmsford commuter professionals. The works required structural alteration for compliant fire separation, kitchen and bathroom rebuild, and an EPC uplift from D to C. Planning consent for the use change was pending at point of purchase.

We packaged the case to a heavy-refurbishment specialist on the panel who accepted the planning-pending position with a conditional release of the works tranche. The 12-month bridge funded the purchase at 68% LTV with the works budget released in three stage payments against quantity surveyor sign-off. Planning came through at month 2; works completed at month 8.

A family upsizing within Brentwood found a five-bed detached they wanted to complete on before their existing CM14 house had cleared the sale process. The buyers on the existing home were ready in principle but their own chain had a delay further down. The family stood to lose the onward purchase if they could not exchange inside 4 weeks.

Because the security was their existing owner-occupied home, the bridge was regulated. We introduced them to one of our FCA-authorised partners who carried out the regulated activity. The packaging team handled the case file and the lender quoted indicative terms inside 24 hours at the regulated rate band. Funds completed in 12 working days against the existing home as security, and the onward purchase exchanged on time.

A regional developer reached practical completion on a fifteen-unit residential scheme in CM20, part of the Harlow regeneration corridor. The development facility ran at expensive dev rates and was 45 days from expiry. Four of the fifteen units had buyers under offer subject to contract; the remaining eleven were on the market.

We refinanced the developer off the dev facility onto a development-exit bridge at materially lower monthly cost. The case priced at 65% LTV against the gross development value, term 12 months, with the lender accepting individual unit sales as the redemption mechanism. The packaging covered the build cost reconciliation, the marketing strategy, and individual unit valuations against comparable evidence in CM20.

A landlord with existing student HMO experience in the East of England picked up a tired five-bed terrace in CO4, within walking distance of the University of Essex Colchester campus. The plan was a six-room reconfiguration with two new ensuite bathrooms, full kitchen rebuild and decoration, ready for the start of the next academic year.

We packaged the case to a panel lender comfortable with student HMO security and works programmes geared to the academic calendar. The 9-month bridge funded purchase at 70% LTV with the works budget released in two tranches. Works ran 14 weeks. The HMO licence application was lodged in parallel and granted at month 4.

An experienced refurbisher picked up a Grade II listed four-bed villa in Saffron Walden's Uttlesford market-town centre, on the Stansted-Cambridge corridor. The property had been tenanted for two decades and needed full sympathetic restoration: kitchen extension with listed building consent, sash window restoration, period detail retention and a complete decorative scheme. Standard mortgage lenders would not lend on the property in its purchase condition.

We packaged the case to a lender comfortable with listed property security and heritage refurbishment timelines. The 12-month bridge funded the purchase at 65% LTV with a separate works tranche released in three stage payments against architect and QS sign-off. Listed building consent for the kitchen extension came through at month 3; works completed at month 9.

An investor exchanged on an eight-thousand-square-foot industrial unit on a Tilbury estate close to DP World London Gateway. The vendor wanted completion in six weeks. An incoming tenant was on agreed heads of terms for a 10-year lease at a strong rent, but the lease had not yet been signed at point of acquisition. Standard commercial term lenders would not lend on a vacant industrial security without a signed lease in place.

We packaged the case to a commercial bridging specialist on our panel who would lend against vacant industrial security at 65% LTV, term 9 months, with the exit being a commercial term refinance once the tenant was in occupation. The bridge funded purchase and a small tenant fit-out contribution. The lease signed at month 2; the tenant moved in at month 4.

A portfolio landlord picked up a six-flat seafront block in Clacton-on-Sea where three flats were tenanted on AST and three were vacant. The block needed common parts refurbishment, full external decoration to deal with salt damage, and minor works to two of the vacant flats before re-letting. Standard portfolio BTL lenders would not refinance the block in its purchase condition.

We packaged the case to a panel lender comfortable with freehold flat-block security and works tranches against common parts. The 12-month bridge funded purchase at 68% LTV with a works tranche released in two stage payments. The three vacant flats were refurbished and re-let across months 3 to 6; common parts and external works completed at month 7.

An experienced developer of premium homes on the Loughton-Chigwell-Buckhurst Hill belt picked up a five-bed detached villa in IG10 that needed a full premium refurbishment: rear kitchen extension, re-roof, replacement windows, high-spec internal fit-out, landscaped gardens. The purchase used a 12-month bridge against the open-market value, with works funded separately.

We packaged the case to a panel lender comfortable with premium residential security and developer-led refurbishment programmes. The bridge funded purchase at 65% LTV with works released in four stage payments against QS sign-off. Works ran 9 months. The finished property listed in the high-end Loughton market with a specialist premium agent.

A developer secured a three-storey high-street office building in CM8 Witham earmarked for Class MA conversion to four self-contained flats. Prior approval was lodged but not yet granted at point of purchase. The works required full internal strip-out, new staircase and party walls, new services to each flat, and EPC works to a C minimum.

We packaged the case to a heavy-refurbishment and conversion specialist on the panel who would lend on a Class MA case with prior approval pending, conditional on the lender taking comfort from the planning officer's pre-application correspondence. The 12-month bridge funded purchase at 65% LTV with the works tranche released in three stage payments. Prior approval was confirmed at month 2; works completed at month 9.