Written by the Lendus editorial team. Last updated .
To get a bridging loan, you need a property to secure it against, a clear exit strategy (such as a sale or remortgage), and a valuation the lender can rely on. Unlike a business loan, none of the six property-backed lenders on this site's panel require a minimum trading history or turnover; underwriting is based on the property and the exit route instead. Typical timelines run from an indicative decision within 24 to 48 hours to full completion in 2 to 4 weeks.
Bridging loans are secured against property, which changes what lenders actually check. Across the six property-backed lenders on this site’s panel, CrowdProperty, LendInvest, Precise Mortgages, Shawbrook, Together, and West One Loans, every single one states that no minimum turnover and no minimum trading history is required. That’s a genuinely different eligibility model from a standard business loan, where trading history requirements on other panel lenders range from 3 months (iwoca) to 24 months (Close Brothers, LendingCrowd). For bridging, the property and the exit route carry the underwriting.
| Lender | Min. Trading History | Min. Turnover | Decision Speed | Completion | Amount Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West One Loans | None required | None | Within 24 hours | 2–3 weeks | £50,000–£20,000,000 |
| Together | None required | None | Within 24 hours | 2–4 weeks | £50,000–£25,000,000 |
| Shawbrook | None (property-backed) | None (property finance) | Indicative terms within 24 hours | 2–4 weeks | £50,000–£25,000,000 |
| Precise Mortgages | None required | None | Within 48 hours | 3–4 weeks | £75,000–£15,000,000 |
| LendInvest | None required | None | Within 24–48 hours | 2–4 weeks | £75,000–£15,000,000 |
| CrowdProperty | None required | None | Indicative within 48h; full decision 2 weeks | Drawdown from 4 weeks | £200,000–£10,000,000 |
Every lender on this panel needs two things before anything else: a property to secure the loan against, and a credible plan to repay it. The exit strategy is usually one of three routes: selling the property, refinancing onto a standard mortgage, or repaying from another confirmed source of funds. West One Loans and Together both name “exit strategy and property quality” as their primary underwriting factors, ahead of the borrower’s own trading position.
Bridging lenders lend against a percentage of the property’s value, so a professional valuation sits at the centre of the application. The panel’s amount ranges reflect very different scales: CrowdProperty’s minimum loan is £200,000, aimed at development-sized projects, while Shawbrook, Together, and West One Loans all start from £50,000, suiting smaller residential bridges. At the top end, Shawbrook and Together both extend to £25,000,000, while West One Loans caps at £20,000,000 and LendInvest and Precise Mortgages at £15,000,000.
Because trading history and turnover generally aren’t assessed, the document list differs from a business loan application:
| Document | What Lenders Want |
|---|---|
| Proof of property ownership or purchase agreement | Confirms the security for the loan |
| Recent valuation, or agreement to instruct one | Establishes loan-to-value |
| Evidence supporting the exit strategy | Mortgage agreement in principle, sale valuation, or confirmation of other funds |
| ID and proof of address | For all borrowers |
| Details of any existing charges on the property | Confirms priority of the new loan |
CrowdProperty’s underwriting places particular weight on the developer’s track record for development-linked bridging, since it explicitly states that “developer experience is more important than trading history.”
Bridging loans are priced by the month because the loans are short-term, typically running from a few months to around 24 months. Across this panel, monthly rates range from 0.54% at LendInvest to 1.5% at Together, with Precise Mortgages (0.59%–1.3%), Shawbrook (0.55%–1.25%), and West One Loans (0.55%–1.3%) sitting in between. Representative APRs are also quoted (typically 10.5%–11.4% across the panel) but these annualise a short-term product, so the monthly rate and any arrangement fee are the more useful figures for comparing actual cost over the expected loan term.
Adverse credit is treated more flexibly on bridging products than on standard unsecured business loans, because the property provides the primary security. West One Loans, Together, Precise Mortgages, and Shawbrook all state that adverse credit is considered on a case-by-case basis for property-backed lending. A credit check still takes place, but it sits alongside the valuation and exit strategy rather than being the deciding factor on its own. Regulated bridging (where the security is a residential property the borrower will occupy) falls under FCA consumer credit rules, which West One Loans specifically flags for its second-charge products.
The gap between an initial decision and full completion is where bridging timelines differ most. West One Loans and Together both aim for completion in 2 to 3 weeks and 2 to 4 weeks respectively once a decision is made. Shawbrook, Precise Mortgages, and LendInvest fall in a similar 2 to 4 week band. CrowdProperty is structured differently: a full credit decision can take up to 2 weeks, with drawdown from 4 weeks, reflecting a more involved process for development-linked lending. Solicitors acting for both sides and the valuation timetable are usually the two biggest factors affecting how quickly any individual case actually completes, regardless of the lender’s stated range.
Bridging loan cost is easiest to understand as a monthly figure applied over the actual number of months the loan runs, rather than as an annualised APR. The following is an illustrative example only, using a monthly rate towards the middle of the panel’s real range.
Scenario: £300,000 bridging loan secured against a property valued at £500,000 (60% loan-to-value), to be repaid in 6 months from the sale of another property.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Loan amount | £300,000 |
| Property value | £500,000 |
| Loan-to-value | 60% |
| Illustrative monthly rate | 0.85% |
| Term | 6 months |
| Interest (rolled up over 6 months) | £15,300 |
| Arrangement fee (illustrative, 2%) | £6,000 |
| Total cost of borrowing | £21,300 |
At a 60% loan-to-value with a clear exit strategy (in this case, a confirmed onward sale), this scenario sits within the range most of the six panel lenders would consider, though the actual rate, fee, and term offered on any individual case depend on the lender’s assessment of the property and the exit route, not on this illustration.
Bridging loans fall into two regulatory categories. Regulated bridging applies where the loan is secured against a property that the borrower or a family member occupies (or will occupy) as their home, and it falls under FCA consumer credit rules, which West One Loans specifically identifies for its second-charge residential products. Unregulated bridging applies to loans secured against investment property, commercial property, or property being developed for sale rather than occupied by the borrower, which covers most of the business-purpose bridging offered by CrowdProperty, LendInvest, Precise Mortgages, Shawbrook, and Together. The distinction affects which consumer protections apply and how the application is documented, so confirming which category a specific loan falls into early avoids delay later in the process.
Lendus is an introducer, not a lender, not a credit broker, and does not give regulated financial advice. Lendus does not approve or decline bridging applications; every lending decision sits with the individual lender named above, and the rate, timeline, and eligibility figures reflect what each lender states about its own products, which can change. Checking directly with the lender before applying is worthwhile, particularly for regulated bridging secured against a residential property.
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