Commercial bridging loans

Bridging finance differs slightly from a commercial mortgage in two key ways:

• Shorter term
• Bridging loans are meant only to ‘bridge’ the gap between you selling a property, or securing longer term finance once a project is completed. Therefore, they will typically only allow a maximum duration of 6-12 months before the money has to be repaid.
• Quicker application process

Bridging loans can have a far quicker application process than a commercial mortgage – allowing you to take advantage of a property bargain.

Despite these key differences you should be aware that a bridging loan is still a mortgage in that it is secured on the property you are purchasing. That means that if you fail to keep up repayments on a bridging loan – the property could be repossessed. 

The repossession process for a bridging loan can be much swifter than repossession on a regular commercial mortgage.

You should also note that bridging finance costs roughly the same amount to arrange as a commercial mortgage – and the finance you are receiving is going to be for a far shorter term. So only consider bridging if you will be unable to secure a commercial mortgage, or you expect to only need finance for a relatively short initial term (while you renovate a property to sell for instance).