Bridging Loan Case Studies Buckinghamshire

The borrower bought a central Milton Keynes mixed-use building at a regional Bucks auction with a 28-day completion deadline. The retail unit was vacant after the previous tenant lease expired without renewal. The two flats above were tenanted on AST. Standard commercial term lenders would not engage on a partly vacant building with no signed retail lease in front of them.

We had the auction pack on our desk by 9am the next morning. Indicative terms came back from MT Finance and one other panel lender inside 24 hours. The borrower signed the better of the two and we packaged the file within the week. Valuation landed at day seven and legals ran in parallel using title insurance to clear a missing planning history note on a 2014 internal alteration. Completion landed 18 working days after the hammer fell, with 10 days of the auction clock still on it.

An experienced landlord bought a six-bed end-terrace in HP11 for conversion into a five-let HMO. The property sat inside the Buckinghamshire Council Article 4 designation for that ward, which removed permitted-development rights for HMO conversion. Planning consent had been applied for but was not yet granted at the point of purchase. The works also required structural alteration for compliant fire separation and an EPC uplift to a C rating.

We packaged the case to United Trust Bank, a heavy-refurbishment specialist on the panel, who accepted the planning-pending status with a conditional release of the works tranche. The 12-month bridge funded the purchase at 65% LTV with the works budget released in three stage payments. Planning came through at month 3 and works completed at month 9 with a quantity surveyor signing off each stage.

A family in Beaconsfield Old Town wanted to complete on a larger seven-bed property a quarter of a mile away before their existing five-bed family home finished going through the sale process. The buyers on the existing home were ready in principle but a delay further down the chain risked the onward purchase falling through. The family stood to lose the new home if they could not exchange within five 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 16 working days against the existing home as security, and the onward purchase exchanged on time.

A regional developer reached practical completion on a 14-unit scheme on the southern Aylesbury Vale edge. The development facility ran at expensive monthly dev rates and was 35 days from expiry. Four of the 14 units had buyers under offer subject to contract but had not exchanged. The other ten were on the market with two early viewings booked.

We refinanced the developer off the dev facility onto a development-exit bridge with Octopus Real Estate at materially lower monthly cost. The case priced at 65% LTV against the gross development value of approximately £4.95m, 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 HP19 and HP21.

A couple in Marlow had agreed terms on a £1.85m onward property nearer the river. Their existing four-bed home was under offer with the buyers progressing well, but exchange was still around five weeks away. The onward seller would not hold beyond a four-week window. The couple needed a bridge against their existing home to release the deposit and complete the onward purchase first.

Because the security was their existing owner-occupied home, the case was regulated and went to our FCA-authorised partner. Hope Capital priced the bridge inside 36 hours at 0.70% per month and 65% LTV against the existing home's £2.15m open-market value. The packaging covered the agent letter on the buyer position, the onward contract pack, and standard regulated-case ID and source of funds. Drawdown completed at 14 working days and the onward purchase exchanged the same week.

A small developer secured a redundant town-centre office building in Chesham with Class MA prior approval already in place for conversion to four one-bed flats. The building was vacant. The developer needed a bridge to fund the acquisition plus the conversion works, with the exit being a four-unit BTL portfolio refinance once the flats were completed and tenanted.

We packaged the case to a mid-panel lender comfortable with Class MA work. The 12-month bridge funded the £465,000 purchase at 65% LTV against the open-market value, with a £210,000 works tranche released in three stage payments against quantity surveyor sign-off. The lender priced at 1.00% per month rolled. Works began at month 1 and reached practical completion at month 8.

A specialist conversion developer bought a traditional stone barn on the Buckingham fringe with full planning consent for conversion into a four-bedroom dwelling. The barn was not listed but sat in a setting that required heritage-sensitive detailing on windows, doors and external materials. The developer planned to fund the purchase and the works, complete the build over 12 months, then sell to an end-user buyer at an open-market valuation of approximately £950,000.

We packaged the case to a heavy-refurb specialist comfortable with rural conversions. The 15-month bridge funded the £400,000 purchase at 60% LTV plus a £240,000 works tranche released against quantity surveyor sign-off in four stages. Valuation took a little longer than the MK postcode urban average because the comparable evidence required a wider rural sweep across north Bucks and into the Northamptonshire fringe.

A first-time refurb investor bought a tired three-bed period villa in HP27. The property had not been updated since the early 1990s and was unmortgageable on a standard term product because the kitchen was missing and the bathroom suite was beyond economic repair. The investor wanted to refurbish over four months and resell at an improved open-market valuation.

We packaged the case to Roma Finance at 70% LTV against the £405,000 open-market value, with a £45,000 works budget released in two tranches. The investor turned around documents quickly and the bridge completed in 15 working days. Works ran over 15 weeks at a slight overrun against the original 12-week budget, costing the investor an additional month of interest.

A landlord owned a light industrial unit in the Wolverton industrial regen zone with a single occupier whose lease was eight months from expiry. The landlord wanted to refurbish the unit, including mid-life roof works and a yard resurfacing, then re-gear the lease at a market rent reflecting the regen-zone uplift. The existing high-street commercial lender had declined to fund the works because the lease term was too short on their criteria.

We arranged a 12-month bridge against the building at 65% LTV. The lender took comfort from the in-place tenant covering interest on a serviced basis, with the works tranche released in two stages against the contractor schedule. Eight months in, the existing tenant signed a new 10-year lease at a 28% higher rent, reflecting the regen-zone market shift.

A Gerrards Cross family agreed to buy a £3.1m onward home in the same SL9 road network. The borrower had a private-banker income structure: bonus-led City compensation, additional partnership income, and significant investment-asset coverage. A standard high-street regulated lender had declined to lend within the timeframe because the income assessment was complex. The seller would not extend beyond a four-week exchange window.

Because the security was the existing owner-occupied home, the bridge went through our FCA-authorised partner as a regulated case. The lender priced inside 48 hours at 0.65% per month and 60% LTV against the existing home's £3.4m open-market value. The packaging covered the income complexity briefly, the onward contract, the agent letter on the existing home sale, and a planned eventual term refinance through the borrower's private bank.