Every bridging case is different. These are real deals we've arranged — the kind of awkward, time-critical situations bridging is built for, and where a whole-of-panel view and direct lender relationships make the difference.
The purchase. Our client won a former bank branch with three flats above at £685,000. Deposit paid on the day, 28 days to complete.
The problem. The lot was catalogued as freehold with vacant possession. It was neither. Legals uncovered an unexpired commercial lease with a tenant in arrears, and one of the flats sat on a separate leasehold title with 62 years left to run. The client's original lender down-valued, cut its LTV and left the offer well short. Eleven days to completion, deposit already at risk.
The solution. We instructed a fresh red book valuation that priced the reversionary value of the short lease rather than discounting for it — it came back at £700,000. That supported a first charge auction facility at 75% of purchase price. The client put in a modest cash contribution and we bridged the remaining gap with a second charge against an existing buy-to-let, taking combined borrowing on that security to just under 67%. Total raised: £646,250. Completed on day 26.
The exit. Titles regularised, 999-year leases granted on all three flats, commercial unit re-let on a fresh ten-year term. Flats sold individually, commercial unit refinanced onto a commercial investment mortgage. Full redemption inside eight months with unused retained interest rebated.
The purchase. Clients exchanged on a £595,000 onward purchase with a fixed completion date and a 10% deposit committed. Their own home, worth £725,000, was under offer.
The problem. Their buyer's survey flagged historic movement to a rear elevation and the buyer withdrew with nine days to run. The clients were now exchanged on a house they couldn't fund, exposed to the full 10% contractual liability, not just the deposit. Both self-employed with two years' accounts — no term lender was going to underwrite and offer inside a fortnight.
The solution. A regulated bridge taking a first charge over the new property and a second charge behind the existing lender on the outgoing home. Sitting behind the existing mortgage rather than redeeming it avoided the cost and delay of an unnecessary redemption. Combined LTV across both securities came out at 64%. Valuation, offer and completion ran in eleven days and the clients completed on time.
The exit. The old house sold four months later, only marginally under the original offer, once a remediation quote and engineer's report were put in front of buyers. Sale proceeds cleared the existing mortgage and the bulk of the bridge; the residual balance refinanced onto a standard residential mortgage at just over 32% LTV. Eight months of unused retained interest was rebated.
The purchase. A tired five-bedroom Victorian semi at £420,000, to be converted into a seven-bedroom licensed HMO against a £725,000 gross development value.
The problem. Three issues surfaced together. The property fell within an Article 4 direction, so the conversion needed full planning rather than permitted development — the client's original lender withdrew the moment that was flagged. Legals then found a 2016 rear extension with no building regulations sign-off. And the client carried a satisfied CCJ from three years earlier.
The solution. We took it to a lender BDM-to-BDM and disclosed all three points upfront rather than letting them surface in underwriting. The agreed structure was a day-one advance at 70% of purchase price, with the full works facility approved but drawn in four arrears stages against QS sign-off — the first stage conditional on planning consent. That protected the lender and gave the client funding certainty before committing. Total facility came in at 61% of GDV, with interest rolled on the drawn balance only. Planning was granted in fourteen weeks and the extension regularised in parallel.
The exit. Finished and fully let at month seven, valued at £725,000. Refinanced at month eleven onto a specialist HMO term mortgage at 75% LTV, redeeming the bridge and releasing capital back to the client — recycling almost his entire original stake into the next project.
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Compare lenders →Case studies describe real completions arranged through our lender panel and have been summarised and anonymised. They illustrate the types of deal we arrange; individual outcomes depend on the lender, the property and your circumstances, and are not a guarantee of the terms, speed or figures available to you. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on any debt secured against it.