Offices · Retail · Mixed-Use · Industrial

Commercial Bridging Loans

Commercial bridging finance funds the purchase, refurbishment, or refinance of commercial property when high-street lenders can't move at the speed the deal requires. We bridge offices, retail, mixed-use, industrial, hotels, and semi-commercial assets across the UK — for investors completing on opportunity buys, landlords repositioning vacant stock, and businesses securing their own premises before long-term finance is in place.

Rated 4.8/5 by property professionals · From 0.37% pm · 250+ lender panel · No upfront fees

£100k – £15m

Loan Size

1 – 18 months

Typical Term

Up to 75% LTV

Typical LTV

Key Features

What We Offer

Offices, retail, mixed-use, industrial

Full commercial spectrum — flats above shops, ground-floor retail with residential above, hotels, semi-commercial, light industrial, owner-occupier business premises.

14-day completions standard

Senior commercial bridge typically completes in 14 working days from clean instruction. Auction commercial buys handled inside the 28-day clock comfortably.

Vacant-to-let repositioning funded

Purchase plus light refurbishment in one facility. Works budget held in retention, drawdown against monitoring-surveyor milestones. Exit on commercial mortgage once let.

Owner-occupier business buys

Bridge your trading premises before long-term commercial mortgage is in place. Refinance to term once trading or letting income is established.

Refinance + capital release

Equity from existing commercial property for further investment, working capital, or cross-collateralised portfolio expansion.

Down-valuations & chain-breaks

High-street lender slowed your deal? Bridge while they catch up — or take the deal off-piste entirely if their underwriting won't complete in time.

Ideal For

Common Scenarios

Property investors completing quickly

Senior bridge to 75% LTV, 14-day standard completion. The product investors reach for when the high-street can't move fast enough.

Auction commercial buyers

Pre-approved DIPs, dedicated 28-day-clock workflow, panel of specialist commercial surveyors ready to instruct fast.

Owner-occupier businesses

Buy your trading premises with a senior bridge, refinance to commercial mortgage once trading-account or letting evidence is established.

Refurb / repositioning specialists

Fund the purchase plus light works in retention; drawdown as the surveyor signs off completed milestones.

Operators with strong covenant, slow-moving lender

Bridge while the high-street processes. Common when your existing banking relationship is happy in principle but operationally slow.

What We Fund

Commercial Bridging — The Specifics

•Commercial purchases at speed — completions in 14 days or less, pre-approval available before exchange
•Auction commercial buys — 28-day auction completion well inside our typical timeline
•Vacant-to-let repositioning — fund the purchase plus light refurbishment, exit on commercial mortgage once let
•Mixed-use and semi-commercial — flats above shops, ground-floor retail with residential above, live-work units
•Owner-occupier business premises — buy your trading premises before long-term commercial mortgage is in place
•Refinance + capital release — equity from existing commercial property for further investment or working capital
•Down-valuations and chain-breaks — bridge a transaction the high-street lender just slowed down

Property Types

Commercial Property Types We Finance

Lender appetite varies significantly by asset class. Here is how bridging underwriters typically assess each type when you are arranging commercial property bridging finance.

Retail Units

High-street shops, shopping-centre units, and parade retail. Lenders look at lease length, tenant covenant, and town-centre footfall. Vacant retail is lendable on a commercial bridging loan but the exit — letting or conversion — needs to be credible. Secondary towns attract more scrutiny than prime high-street locations.

Offices

From single-floor suites to multi-storey office buildings. Lender appetite concentrates on Grade A or recently refurbished stock; older secondary offices require a clear repositioning plan. Owner-occupier purchases — where a business secures its trading premises via a bridging loan for commercial property UK — are a strong and well-supported use case.

Mixed-Use

Flats above shops, ground-floor commercial with upper-floor residential, live-work units, and converted townhouses with a commercial consent. Lenders assess the commercial proportion of value; where residential dominates, the loan can occasionally be structured closer to residential bridging parameters. Planning status and any required change-of-use consent is scrutinised.

Warehouses & Industrial

Light industrial units, trade-counter premises, logistics sheds, and multi-let industrial estates. Industrial is generally well-regarded by bridging lenders — strong occupier demand, relatively straightforward valuation, and clear exits onto commercial mortgages. Specialist uses such as food production or chemical storage may require a specialist lender within our panel.

HMO as Commercial

Large HMOs (typically 7+ beds, or in Article 4 direction areas) are increasingly assessed on a commercial basis — valued on income yield rather than bricks-and-mortar. This affects the LTV calculation on your commercial bridging loan. We work with lenders who understand HMO valuations and can price the risk appropriately, particularly for portfolio landlords expanding their commercial position.

How It Works

From Enquiry to Drawdown

Initial enquiry

Property details, purchase price, exit plan. We do a soft credit footprint at this stage only.

Indicative terms

Same day. Soft credit only, no fee. A DIP letter your solicitor can rely on.

Valuation

RICS commercial surveyor instructed; 5–7 working days standard for routine commercial property.

Legals

Your solicitor and ours work in parallel. Auction packs and unregistered land take longer; clean leasehold/freehold commercial is fast.

Drawdown

14 days standard for clean deals. Funds released to your solicitor on completion.

Loan Parameters

Headline Numbers

Loan size

£100,000 – £15m

LTV

Up to 75% (tighter than residential)

Term

1 – 18 months

Rates

From 0.58% pcm

Charges

1st and 2nd charge available

Property types

All commercial considered

Worked Example

£500k Commercial Bridging Loan — Cost Breakdown

A representative example of how a commercial bridging loan works in practice for a UK property investor.

Scenario: Retail unit purchase for vacant-to-let repositioning

Purchase price

£500,000

GDV (post-refurb estimate)

£650,000

LTV

70% — loan of £350,000

Term

12 months

Interest structure

Rolled-up — no monthly payments

Exit strategy

Refinance onto commercial mortgage once let

How the costs work: Interest is rolled up into the facility and repaid in full at exit alongside the capital — no monthly outgoings during the 12-month term. The total cost of borrowing (interest, arrangement fee, and any exit fee) is confirmed at indicative terms stage before you proceed. Your solicitor and ours work in parallel; target drawdown is 14 working days from clean instruction.

What the lender assesses: Asset quality and location, exit credibility (does the property support a commercial mortgage once let?), and borrower track record. Trading history is not required — the bridge focuses on the property and the plan, not the business balance sheet.

Representative example only. Actual loan size, LTV, and total costs confirmed at indicative terms stage. Arrange a call to discuss your specific deal.

Common Questions

Commercial Bridging FAQ

What's the maximum LTV on commercial bridging?

Up to 75% on senior — tighter than residential bridging because commercial valuations are more variable and exit timelines longer. Mixed-use can sometimes go higher where the residential element dominates the value.

Do you fund commercial property at auction?

Yes — auction commercial buys are routine. Send the catalogue entry pre-auction for an indicative offer; we work to the 28-day completion clock and have a panel of specialist commercial surveyors ready to instruct fast.

Can you fund refurbishment alongside the purchase?

Yes — works budget is typically held in retention and released against monitoring-surveyor milestones, same structure as residential refurbishment bridging. Common for repositioning vacant office stock or upgrading older retail units.

Will you lend on vacant commercial property?

Yes — vacant possession is normal for commercial bridging because most borrowers are buying to reposition. We'll want to see the exit plan (let, sell, or owner-occupy) before commit.

How is commercial bridging different from a commercial mortgage?

Speed and flexibility. Commercial mortgages take 8–12 weeks and require detailed business case, valuations, and proof of trading or letting income. Bridging is 2–3 weeks and focuses on the asset and the exit, not the long-term operational case.

What is a bridge loan in commercial banking?

A bridge loan in commercial banking is short-term finance secured against a commercial property — offices, retail, industrial or mixed-use — used to cover a timing gap until a longer-term outcome is in place. Typical uses are buying a commercial asset quickly (including at auction), refinancing maturing debt, raising capital against an owned property, or repositioning a building before letting or selling. It runs for roughly 1–24 months, is interest-only or rolled-up with no monthly payments, and is repaid in full at exit via sale, refinance onto a commercial mortgage, or completion of works. The lender focuses on the asset value and the credibility of the exit rather than trading history, which is why a commercial bridge completes in weeks where a commercial mortgage takes months.

What LTV can I get on a commercial bridging loan?

Typically 65–70% on a standard commercial bridging loan — somewhat tighter than residential bridging because commercial valuations are more variable and the secondary market for commercial assets is narrower. Well-let stock with strong tenant covenants, or mixed-use properties where residential value dominates, can sometimes reach 75% LTV. The lender's confidence in the exit route — sale to another investor or refinance onto a commercial mortgage — is the primary driver of how far they will stretch on LTV.

Is a commercial bridging loan regulated?

No. Commercial bridging finance falls entirely outside the FCA's Mortgage Credit Directive Order (MCOB) regime, which applies only to regulated mortgage contracts on a borrower's primary residence. Because the security is a commercial asset — offices, retail, industrial, mixed-use, or an investment property the borrower does not live in — the transaction is unregulated. This means lenders can move faster and apply more flexible underwriting criteria, but it also means regulated consumer protections do not apply. Using an experienced commercial property bridging finance broker is therefore important: proper lender selection, independent advice, and due diligence on the full cost of borrowing are your principal safeguards.

What's the difference between commercial and residential bridging rates?

Commercial bridging is typically priced higher than residential bridging. There are structural reasons: the pool of lenders willing to lend on commercial property is smaller than for residential, commercial valuations are more complex and variable, and the exit route — letting and refinancing onto a commercial mortgage, or selling to another investor — carries more execution risk than selling a residential property. That said, the premium is not uniform. Well-let industrial estates and multi-let units with strong covenants can attract pricing closer to residential equivalents. We source across 250+ lenders and will identify the most competitive commercial bridging loan terms for your specific asset type and exit plan.

Can I get a bridging loan for a mixed-use property?

Yes — mixed-use property is a common case for a bridging loan for commercial property UK. The lender's structuring depends on the commercial proportion of the total value: where commercial use dominates (ground-floor retail with one flat above), the loan is treated as commercial; where residential value dominates, some lenders will consider residential bridging parameters. Planning status matters too — any required change-of-use consent, permitted development rights, or Article 4 direction will be reviewed. We regularly arrange commercial property bridging finance for flats-above-shops, live-work units, and converted buildings with mixed planning consents across the UK.

For ground-up commercial development

See development finance on developing.fund — our sister-site brand for ground-up schemes.

Real Results

Deals We've Structured

All case studies

£3.8m

£3.8m Commercial Purchase

Manchester

£5.2m

£5.2m Office Acquisition