Commercial and business bridging loans.
Short-term secured lending for limited companies and SPVs. Unregulated, which is why it moves in days rather than months.
Bridging for a limited company.
Most bridging content is written for individuals. This isn't.
We arrange bridging for limited companies and SPVs only, developers, landlords holding through a company, and trading businesses borrowing against commercial or investment property.
That's not a niche we've picked for marketing reasons. It's what determines whether the FCA regulates the loan, which determines how fast it can complete, which is usually the entire point of bridging.
What a company bridge looks like: short term, secured on the property, interest rolled up or retained rather than paid monthly, repaid on sale or refinance. Directors give personal guarantees. The company holds the asset.
A new company is fine. An SPV formed last week can borrow, because the lender is underwriting the asset and the exit, not the company's trading history. Your own track record matters; the company's doesn't.
Regulated or unregulated?
This is the most misunderstood thing in bridging, and it's the question that determines whether we can help you at all.
A bridging loan is regulated when it's secured on a property you, or an immediate family member, live in or intend to live in. That's the test. Not the borrower, not the purpose, not the amount. The security.
It's unregulated when the security is commercial property, investment property, or a property nobody in the borrowing party lives in. A shop. A buy-to-let. A development site. An HMO you rent out. A warehouse.
Why unregulated moves faster. Regulated bridging carries the FCA's full mortgage conduct regime, affordability assessment, suitability reporting, cooling-off periods, prescribed disclosure documents. Each exists for a good reason, and each adds days. Unregulated bridging carries none of it: the lender assesses the asset and the exit. Days to a few weeks is normal. That speed isn't a loophole. It reflects a real judgement: a company borrowing against a warehouse it doesn't live in doesn't need protecting the way a family borrowing against their home does.
What this means for you. We only arrange unregulated bridging: limited companies and SPVs, secured on commercial and investment property. Every case we take is unregulated by definition, because that's how we're structured. If your bridge would be secured on your own home, or a property you or a family member intends to live in, that's regulated lending and we can't help. You'll need an FCA-authorised broker with home finance permissions. We'd rather tell you that in the first conversation than waste three weeks of yours.
The grey areas, honestly. Two catch people out. First, mixed-use where you live above the shop: if part of the security is your own residence, the loan may be regulated even though most of the building is commercial, and the test turns on the specific facts. Don't assume; ask. Second, a property you'll move into later: buying an investment property is unregulated, but buying one you intend to occupy can be regulated even if you don't move in for a while, because your intention at the point of borrowing is what counts. If you're unsure, tell us the truth about the property's use, getting this wrong creates a problem for you, not just for us.
What commercial bridging funds.
- Commercial property purchase. Shops, offices, industrial units, warehouses, where the vendor needs speed or the price reflects it.
- Auction lots. 28 days from gavel to completion. No commercial mortgage lender works to that. Auction finance →
- Mixed-use buildings. Retail below, flats above. Common, and awkward for mainstream lenders.
- Investment property in a company. Buy-to-let stock, HMOs, multi-unit blocks in an SPV. HMO mortgages →
- Development site acquisition. Ahead of a full development facility. Development finance →
- Raising capital against property you own. Working capital, stock, a tax bill, an opportunity. The security is commercial; the use is your business.
- Refurbishment of commercial stock. Bringing an unlettable unit up to standard before refinancing. Refurbishment bridging →
Commercial bridging rates and costs.
How the pricing is built. The live numbers we quote from our panel on application, because a rate published today is stale within weeks.
Bridging interest is priced monthly, not annually. Commercial security usually sits above residential investment property, because the resale market is thinner and valuations more variable, and LTVs tend to sit a little below residential investment stock. On top of interest there's an arrangement fee (a percentage of the facility), sometimes an exit fee, a valuation fee, legals (yours and the lender's), and our broker fee, disclosed to you in full before you commit.
On exit fees, read the basis: whether it's charged on the loan or on the property's value. On a large facility that difference is material.
Blocked on the lender panel: the verified monthly rate range from panel, LTV band from panel, and arrangement/exit/valuation figures from panel drop in here with a "rates correct as at date" stamp. We won't publish a guessed number.
How fast, and what slows it.
Days to a few weeks where the file is clean. What actually slows it, in order:
- The valuation. Not underwriting. A straightforward commercial valuation takes time; an unusual asset takes longer. Instruct on day one, not day ten.
- Title problems. Unregistered land, missing rights of way, restrictive covenants. Your solicitor finds these; the lender's solicitor then wants them fixed.
- The exit not standing up. "We'll refinance" isn't an exit until a lender has indicated they'd take it. Lenders underwrite the exit before almost anything else.
- Company documents. SPV incorporated wrong, SIC codes off, directors not matching shareholders. Fixable, but it costs days. SPV mortgages →
Appetite varies by asset, and it's invisible from outside.
Commercial bridging appetite varies sharply by asset class and it's invisible from outside. A lender comfortable with high-street retail may decline an industrial estate. One that likes offices won't touch leisure.
A decline usually means the asset sits outside that lender's book, not that the deal is bad. The same file often funds elsewhere at a similar price.
- Match the asset class to lenders whose current book actually wants it
- Prepare the file the way commercial credit teams read it: tenancy schedule, valuation rationale, exit evidence
- Push back on valuations where the comparables don't support the cut
- Negotiate total cost, not headline rate
- Tell you early when it doesn't fund, while you can still restructure
We're independent. No lender owns us. On the obvious conflict: Hunter Grey also buys development sites. Anything sent to the finance team stays with the finance team, and we won't bid on a site you bring us for finance.
The asset, the exit, and a fast answer.
- Call0333 577 1988
- Emailinfo@huntergrey.co.uk
- Office139-143 Union St, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL1 1TE
Auction deadline? Auction finance → · Model it: calculator →
Commercial bridging, answered.
Can a limited company get a bridging loan?
Yes, company and SPV borrowing is standard in bridging, and it's the only kind we arrange. Directors will give personal guarantees.
Can a new company get bridging finance?
Yes. Lenders underwrite the asset and the exit, not the company's trading history. An SPV formed last week can borrow. Your own track record matters; the company's age doesn't.
Are bridging loans regulated?
Some are. A bridging loan is regulated when it's secured on a property the borrower or an immediate family member lives in or intends to live in. If the security is commercial or investment property, it's unregulated.
What is a regulated bridging loan?
One secured on the borrower's own home. It falls under the FCA's mortgage conduct rules: affordability checks, suitability requirements, prescribed disclosures. We don't arrange these.
What is an unregulated bridging loan?
One secured on commercial or investment property that nobody in the borrowing party lives in. No FCA mortgage rules apply, which is why it completes in days rather than weeks. This is what we arrange.
What's the difference between regulated and unregulated bridging?
The security, not the borrower, not the purpose. Own home means regulated. Commercial or investment property means unregulated. Unregulated is faster because it carries no mandatory conduct process.
What is a commercial bridging loan?
Short-term lending secured on property held for business or investment: shops, offices, industrial, mixed-use, or investment stock in a company.
What is a business bridging loan?
The same product, framed by use rather than security: a company borrowing short-term against property, often to fund an opportunity, a purchase or working capital.
How fast is commercial bridging?
Days to around three weeks on a clean file. The valuation is almost always the constraint, not the underwriting.
Do you arrange residential bridging?
No. Bridging secured on someone's home is regulated lending needing an FCA-authorised broker with home finance permissions. We work with limited companies on commercial and investment property only.