Short term and commercial lending
Short term and commercial lending
We place specialist finance direct with the lender rather than through a packager. Enquiries reach our managing director, Nik Mair, the same working day, so you know quickly whether the deal is fundable.
- Placed direct
- We deal with the lender's own underwriters. No packager in the middle adding a margin or a delay.
- Same day view
- Specialist enquiries are read by the managing director on the working day they arrive.
- Exit tested first
- Short term lending only works with a credible exit. We stress the exit before placing the case.
- Honest answers
- If a deal does not stack up we tell you, and we tell you what would need to change.
This type of lending is not usually regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Start from the situation
You do not need to know the product name
Most people describe a situation, not a product. Find the line that sounds like yours.
| Your situation | Usually points to |
|---|---|
| Bought at auction and the contract is already exchanged | Auction finance |
| Buying before the current place sells | Bridging finance |
| Building out a site, or converting a building into flats | Development finance |
| Buying premises for a business you own and trade from | Commercial mortgage |
| A shop or restaurant with flats above it | Semi-commercial mortgage |
| A house let room by room, with a council licence involved | HMO mortgage |
| Property is uninhabitable, so a normal mortgage is not available yet | Bridging finance, then refinance once works are done |
| Need to raise money but the existing mortgage is worth keeping | Second charge loan |
| A heavy refurbishment: structural work, extension, change of use | Development finance or refurbishment bridging |
These are the usual routes, not rules. The right product depends on the property, the timescale and how the borrowing will be repaid.
Short term lending
Bridging is about the exit
A bridge is priced and underwritten on how it will be repaid. Sale, refinance onto a term mortgage, or the receipt of expected funds — the lender wants that route to be specific, evidenced and realistic, not a hope.
Where bridging goes wrong. The exit slips. A sale falls through, a refinance is declined because the property no longer meets the term lender's criteria, or works overrun and the property is not yet mortgageable. The borrowing then needs extending, on the lender's terms rather than yours.
We therefore ask uncomfortable questions at the start: what happens if the sale does not complete, what the fallback lender would be, and whether the refinance would actually be approved on today's criteria. If we cannot answer those, we would rather not place the loan.
Development
Development lending follows the build
Development finance is released in stages against work completed and signed off, not in one lump at the start. That means your cash flow depends on the monitoring surveyor's visits as much as on the lender's decision.
Where development goes wrong. The appraisal is optimistic. Build costs are understated, the contingency is thin, professional fees and finance costs are left out of the numbers, or the end values assume a market that has moved. Lenders test all of that, and an appraisal that does not survive scrutiny damages credibility for the next application too.
Experience matters here. A first-time developer is fundable, but the case has to be presented honestly — including who is doing the building and what happens if they walk off site.
Commercial and mixed use
Commercial lending looks at the business, the tenant and the building
For owner occupied premises, the lender is assessing the trading business: accounts, management figures, the sector, and whether the property suits the operation. For an investment purchase, the focus shifts to the tenant, the lease, the unexpired term and how easily the space would re-let if the tenant left.
Where commercial cases go wrong. A lease with an early break clause, a single tenant carrying the whole income, a specialist building with few alternative uses, or a valuation on a trading basis rather than bricks and mortar. Any of these can change the lending available without changing the price you have agreed.
Semi-commercial property — a retail or restaurant unit with flats above — sits between two lending books. Some lenders treat the whole title as commercial, others weight it by the residential element, and the difference in outcome can be substantial. Which way it is presented is a decision, not an accident.
These cases also take longer than residential purchases. Commercial legal work, leases, licences and, where relevant, environmental reports all add time. We would rather set that expectation at the beginning than apologise for it later.
This type of lending is not usually regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Specialist products
Specialist finance services
- Bridging loansShort term lending with a defined exit, placed direct with the lender.Read more
- Development financeGround up and heavy refurbishment, drawn down in stages.Read more
- Commercial mortgagesOwner occupied premises and commercial investment property.Read more
- Semi-commercialMixed use property where residential sits above trade.Read more
- Auction financeFunding arranged against an auction deadline you cannot move.Read more
- HMO mortgagesLicensing, room counts and the valuation basis lenders will use.Read more
- Second chargeRaising money behind an existing mortgage you want to keep.Read more
Working to a deadline?
Tell us the property, the deadline and how the borrowing will be repaid. If it can be done we will tell you how, and if it cannot we will tell you that today rather than in a fortnight.
Get a same day answer