Build it
Build it
Development finance
Ground-up, conversion and part-built schemes, from site purchase to exit.
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Development finance
Which cap binds, loan to cost or loan to GDV, and the real day-one equity.
Build to Rent development
Underwritten on stabilised yield and DSCR, not sales rate.
Mezzanine and stretched senior
The gap between senior LTC and what you can fund, and the true blended cost.
Heavy refurbishment and conversion
Where refurbishment stops being a bridge: structure, change of use, drawdowns.
Part-built and rescue finance
Valuing an unfinished asset when the contractor has gone.
Bridge it
Bridge it
Bridging finance
Short-term debt where the deadline, the asset or the exit will not wait.
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Purchase bridge
Completing before the money is in place: chain breaks, tight deadlines, unmortgageable stock.
Development exit finance
Off development debt at a lower rate, to buy sales time and release equity.
Auction finance
A 28-day clock, and what must be in place before the hammer falls.
Pre-planning and planning gain
Lending against current value with planning upside.
Below market value purchase
Day-one lending against open market value rather than price.
Second charge and capital raising
Raising against existing assets, and first-charge consent.
Light refurbishment finance
Bridge plus refurb tranche, and where the development boundary sits.
Also structuredBridge to let and refinance
Hold it
Hold it
Mortgages and term finance
Long-term debt against income, once the asset is built, let or trading.
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Buy to let mortgages
ICR stress testing, limited company against personal, portfolio rules.
HMO mortgages
A higher cover test, licensing, and the two valuations a lender takes the lower of.
Commercial term, investment
Tenant covenant and lease term, and why DSCR sets the loan.
Commercial term, owner-occupier
Trading accounts and EBITDA rather than rent roll.
Portfolio refinance
Cross-collateralisation, and one facility against individual loans.
Stabilisation and term refinance
The income test replacing the GDV test, and the letting void before term debt engages.
Co-living and PBSA
An operational asset valued on income, and the operator covenant.
Run it
Run it
Business finance
Funding the business behind the property, secured on the ledger, the equipment or the covenant.
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How we work
Case studies
Articles
Tools
Development finance calculator
Size the facility against site cost, build cost and GDV.
Development exit calculator
Refinance the development facility and release equity at PC.
Bridging finance calculator
What a bridge costs, and what actually clears on day one.
Refurbishment finance calculator
Fund the purchase and 100% of the works, with interest rolled to exit.
BTL rental cover calculator
The rent a buy to let must achieve to clear a lender's cover test.
Commercial mortgage calculator
What a commercial property's income will support, and what it costs.
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Bridge it › Purchase bridge
A purchase bridge is a short-term loan to buy a property when the long-term money cannot be ready in time, or the property cannot yet qualify for it. That covers a chain that has broken, an auction or off-market deadline, a property that is not yet mortgageable, and land bought ahead of planning. It lends against the property as it stands today, and is repaid by a sale, a refinance, or development finance once the plan is in place.
Land bought ahead of planning is the case development finance cannot cover, because it needs full consent, a defined scheme and a costed build before it will lend. A purchase bridge lends against the land as land instead, typically 65 to 70% of its open market value, on a term set around the planning programme rather than a build one.
The other reason to bridge a purchase is speed. Two to six weeks is typical on a clean deal, with a complete pack, the legal work ready, a motivated client and good solicitors, which is what wins an off-market deal or holds a chain together. The risk to respect is the exit: the usual way a purchase bridge goes wrong is planning arriving later than the term assumed.
See the net advance on day one, and what the roll costs by redemption.
The exit is the underwrite
A purchase bridge is priced on how it gets repaid, not on the property. Development finance, a term facility or a sale are all credible exits, but only if the route is established before you draw rather than after.
Land valued as land
Without consent the security is the open market value of the site, not the scheme you intend to build on it. Expect around 65 to 70% of that, and expect a valuer to be conservative about hope value.
A term set around the planning programme, with headroom
Nine to fifteen months is typical, matched to the determination timetable. We build in room for the committee date that slips, because that is the common case rather than the unlucky one, and an extension negotiated late is an expensive extension.
The refinance lined up behind it
The strongest position is a development lender already circling before the bridge completes. Then consent triggers a refinance that is underway rather than a fresh search with a redemption date approaching.
Which lenders play here
Unregulated bridging lenders across the market, plus a smaller group with a genuine appetite for land without consent. That second group is the one worth identifying early, because most lenders do not price a no-planning site differently, they simply decline it.
65-70%
LTV of land open market value
9-15m
Typical term, planning-led
2-6 wks
Typical completion, clean deal
Exit
Agreed before you draw
Indicative, and not an offer. What a lender will actually do depends on the scheme, the borrower and a full valuation.
What to have ready
Bring these and we can tell you where you stand.
Each one is something a lender will ask for. Having it early is the difference between a fast answer and a slow one.
✓The site, the price agreed, and the deadline you are working to
✓Planning status: none, outline, full, and any conditions outstanding
✓Your scheme, even in outline, and the GDV you believe it supports
✓The exit, and evidence for it: a development lender's interest, or a sale route
✓Your contribution, and where it is coming from
✓Track record, particularly anything you have taken through planning before
Related
Worth reading on this
Article
How Bridging Works: Term, Interest and the Exit
Article
Below Market Value Bridging Finance: What the Headline LTV Doesn’t Tell You
Article
Regulated vs Unregulated Bridging Finance for Property Developers
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Related in this pillar.
Common questions
The questions this product raises.
When does a purchase bridge make sense?
When you need to complete before the long-term money is in place. That might be a broken chain, a deadline you cannot move, an off-market deal that goes to whoever completes first, a property a mortgage lender will not take until it has been worked on, or land bought ahead of planning. The bridge buys the time; the exit repays it.
How quickly can a purchase bridge complete?
Typically two to six weeks on a clean deal. That means a complete pack, all the legal work ready to go, a motivated client and good solicitors on both sides. Have the exit and your contribution evidenced before you start.
What exit will a lender want on a purchase bridge?
A defined one, established before you draw. That could be a sale, a refinance to a term mortgage once the property is mortgageable or let, or development finance where it is a site. The strongest position is the refinance lender already engaged before the bridge completes, not a fresh search with the redemption date approaching.
What usually goes wrong with a purchase bridge?
The exit arriving later than the term assumed: a refinance that takes longer than planned, works that overrun, a sale that drags, or planning on a site. Build headroom into the term at the start, because an extension negotiated late is an expensive one.
Bring us the detail.
Send what you have. We will tell you what is fundable and what needs work before anyone approaches a lender.
Specialist property finance for developers who want the numbers to survive underwriting.
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Fundingwise Limited is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and arranges unregulated finance only. That means lending secured against commercial property, or against residential property that is not, and will not be, occupied by the borrower or an immediate family member as a main residence. We do not advise on or arrange regulated mortgage contracts or regulated bridging loans. Because this finance is unregulated, FCA conduct rules and access to the Financial Ombudsman Service do not apply. Fundingwise Limited is registered in England and Wales, company number 13750788.