Bridging Loan Types Southampton

Bridging is not one product. It is a spine of eight related short-term lending products, each built around a particular kind of property deal and a particular kind of exit. The right product for any given case depends on whether the security is owner-occupied or investment, whether the property is residential or commercial, whether the project involves refurbishment or change of use, and where the existing finance position sits. Most Southampton borrowers come to us asking for "a bridge" and find that they actually need one of two or three specific products on the spine: the cleaner the match between deal and product, the cheaper the case prices and the faster it completes.

Across Southampton and the wider Hampshire market we run all eight products on the same panel of eight specialist bridging lenders. MT Finance, Octane Capital, Roma Finance, United Trust Bank, Hope Capital, Together, LendInvest and Octopus Real Estate cover the regulated and unregulated regimes between them, with appetite spread across auction, refurbishment, development exit, second charge and commercial bridges. Where a case sits at the edges of that core panel we also work with Shawbrook, Precise Mortgages, Allica Bank, Glenhawk, Avamore Capital, Kuflink and ASK Partners for the right specialist fit. The panel composition matters because each lender has a different appetite for property type, borrower profile, refurbishment depth and exit route. Putting the case to the right two or three lenders rather than the wrong six is the difference between sensible pricing and a wasted week.

The eight loan-type pages below set out who each product is for, what it costs in the current Soton investor market, the typical Southampton case, the loan to value and term, the exit routes, what makes a deal work, and what does not. Use the pages as a working map of what is realistically arrangeable in days rather than weeks across the SO14 to SO19 postcode belt and the wider South Hampshire built-up area. Regulated and unregulated work split roughly 20 to 80 in our pipeline: most of what we do is investment-side bridging for landlords, refurbishment investors, small developers and limited company SPVs running portfolios across Portswood, Highfield, Bitterne, St Mary's, Shirley, Freemantle and out to Millbrook, Swaythling and Sholing. The remaining regulated work is chain-break and downsizer cases routed through authorised partner firms.

Rates currently sit between 0.55% and 1.5% per month across the spine. Regulated bridging on owner-occupied residential security sits at the lower end, 0.55% to 0.85% per month. Standard unregulated investment cases sit at 0.65% to 1.25%. Refurbishment, heavy works and development exit price 0.75% to 1.5% depending on the depth of works and the loan to value. Auction cases price toward the middle of the unregulated band, with a premium attached to the speed of completion. Second charge cases price above first charge, typically 0.85% to 1.5%, reflecting the subordinated recovery position. Arrangement fees run 1.5% to 2.0% of the loan across all products, with valuation and legal fees on top, both sides borrower-paid. We quote every line item before instruction; there is no such thing as a fee-free bridge.

Term length on the spine runs from 1 month to 24 months, with most cases using 6 to 12 months. Loan to value caps top out at 75% on standard residential investment cases and 70% on commercial and refurbishment cases, with most cases settling between 60% and 70% to give the exit headroom. Loan size starts at around £100,000 on second charge work and runs to £25 million on large development exit and commercial schemes, with the network's median book around £350,000 to £750,000. Completion timelines range from 7 working days on a streamlined auction case using title insurance, through 10 to 14 working days on a standard residential investment bridge, to 21 to 28 working days on a multi-unit development exit or complex commercial case.

Regulated bridging on owner-occupied residential property is FCA-regulated. Unregulated bridging on commercial and investment property is not. We are not directly authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority and work with authorised partner firms for regulated work; we do not give regulated advice.