How to get a bridging loan: the process from enquiry to funds

You get a bridging loan by showing a lender three things: a property worth enough to secure the loan, a sensible amount and term, and a credible way of repaying it at the end. The process then runs in six steps.

1. Enquiry. Tell a lender or broker about the property, the amount, the purpose and the exit.
2. Decision in principle. The lender gives indicative terms, subject to checks.
3. Full application. You supply identity, company and property documents and evidence of the exit.
4. Valuation. The lender instructs a surveyor to value the security.
5. Legal work. Solicitors check title, searches and existing charges and prepare the loan documents.
6. Drawdown. You sign, conditions are met, and the funds are sent through the solicitors.

Our guide to bridging loans explains what they are, how they are priced and when one makes sense. This page is about the process of getting one.

Have the basic facts of the deal ready before your first conversation. A lender or broker uses them to decide whether the case fits before anyone spends money on a valuation.

• The property's address, type (residential, commercial, mixed-use or land) and rough value.
• Any mortgage or charge already on it and the amount owed.
• How much you want to borrow, what for and for how long.
• Who will borrow: you personally, a limited company or an SPV.
• How you will repay: sale, refinance or another named event, with dates.
• When you need the money, and why by then.

The amount you can borrow is usually set as a percentage of the property's value. Our page on loan to value explains how lenders work that out, including when they lend against the price paid instead of the valuation.

You can go direct to a bridging lender or use a broker. Both routes are legitimate, and the right one depends on how standard your case is.

Whichever route you take, read the lender's own published criteria. If you are borrowing through a company to buy or refinance a business property, our guide to commercial bridging loans covers how those deals are assessed.

A decision in principle (DIP) is the lender's early, written indication that it will lend on the terms set out, subject to valuation, legal work and its full checks. It is not an offer, and all lending remains subject to status and lender criteria.

To issue a DIP, lenders usually ask for:

• Identity and address for each borrower, director and guarantor.
• The company's details, if a company is borrowing.
• Property details, including the title number if you have it.
• A clear statement of the exit, with dates.
• Your experience, for example of refurbishment or property investment, where relevant.

Read the DIP closely. It sets out the amount, the monthly rate, whether interest is retained, rolled up or paid monthly, the arrangement and exit fees and the term. This is the stage to compare lenders, because once you pay for a valuation you are committed to one of them.

It depends on who borrows and what the property is used for. Under the Regulated Activities Order, a loan secured on land is a regulated mortgage contract where the lender gives credit to an individual or to trustees and at least 40% of the land is used, or intended to be used, as or in connection with a dwelling, unless an exclusion such as the one for investment property loans applies. The FCA Handbook defines a bridging loan in that regime as a regulated mortgage contract with a term of 12 months or less.

Lending to a limited company is outside that definition, which is why most business bridging is unregulated. A regulated bridge involves more checks and paperwork, and fewer lenders offer one. FCA figures released in February 2026 show 4,691 regulated bridging loans sold in 2025, with a total value of about £1.83 billion. This is a general description, not legal advice; ask the lender how your loan will be treated.

Prepare the property and the paperwork before the lender asks for them. Valuation and legal work are where bridging deals usually stall, and much of the delay comes from information nobody gathered in advance.

• Access. Make the property available for the surveyor as soon as the valuation is instructed, and tell the lender who holds the keys.
• Property papers. Gather leases, planning permissions, building control sign-offs and any structural reports.
• Existing borrowing. Ask your current lender for a redemption statement early.
• A solicitor who knows bridging. Instruct one at DIP stage, not after the offer, and ask whether the lender will accept search indemnity insurance.
• Leasehold consents. Check whether the freeholder's consent is needed to charge the property.

When a company borrows, the lender will also want its charge registered at Companies House. The Companies Act 2006 allows 21 days beginning with the day after the charge is created, and a charge not delivered in time is void against a liquidator, administrator or creditor of the company. Your solicitor or the lender's normally handles this, but it is one reason lenders ask for company documents early. Our guide to debentures explains what a charge over a company's assets means.

Once the valuation and legal work are done, the lender issues a formal offer and completion follows.

1. The formal offer sets out the final amount, rate, fees, term and conditions.
2. You sign the facility agreement and any personal guarantee.
3. Remaining conditions are met, such as buildings insurance and a redemption statement.
4. The solicitors prepare a completion statement showing the net amount after fees and any retained interest.
5. The lender sends the funds to its solicitor, who sends them on, and the charge is registered.

Check the completion statement before the day. With retained interest and fees deducted, the cash you receive can be well below the gross loan. If a guarantee is involved, read our page on personal guarantees first.

Evidence the exit before you apply. A bridge is repaid from a sale, a refinance or a known event, and the lender will test whichever you name at every stage.

Build in slack. If the sale or refinance runs late, the loan runs on at the bridging rate and may attract default interest or extension fees. Our guide to development finance covers projects where the works themselves need funding.

Write down the property, the amount, the term and the exit on one page, with the evidence for each. Then check your funding options with Capzy. The check is a soft search; a lender's full application may involve a hard search, and every loan is subject to status and lender criteria. More guides on property and short-term borrowing are in our types of finance section.