A commercial bridging loan is a short-term loan secured against commercial, semi-commercial, or investment property, designed to be repaid within months rather than years. A commercial mortgage is long-term debt, typically repaid over 5 to 25 years with monthly capital and interest payments. The key practical differences are speed and eligibility: bridging can complete in weeks and lenders will consider vacant, refurbishment, and transitional property that a mortgage lender would not. Commercial mortgages are cheaper overall but require the property to be in a stable, let, or owner-occupied state and take months to arrange. Our guide to commercial bridging vs commercial mortgages covers the comparison in full.

The most common use of commercial bridging is as a stepping stone to a commercial mortgage: acquire or refurbish quickly on bridging, then refinance onto a term mortgage once the property meets long-term lending criteria.

Commercial bridging loan amounts are primarily determined by the value of the security property and the LTV the lender is willing to advance. For standard commercial assets in good condition with a clear exit, lenders typically consider up to 65 to 70 percent LTV. Properties that are vacant, require significant work, or are in non-standard use tend to attract lower LTV limits, as the lender has less certainty about recovery value if the exit fails. These are illustrative ranges only; actual limits vary by lender and depend on the specific property, exit, and borrower profile.

There is no standard minimum or maximum loan size in commercial bridging. Some lenders focus on larger transactions from £500,000 upwards; others have active books below £250,000. A specialist broker will identify which part of the market suits your loan size and property type. The bridging cost calculator lets you model different gross loan and LTV combinations to understand the figures before speaking to anyone.

Yes. Most commercial bridging lenders are comfortable lending to limited companies and special purpose vehicles (SPVs). This is in fact the standard structure for property investors who hold assets in a corporate wrapper. The application process differs from personal applications: lenders will ask for company incorporation documents, certificate of incorporation, director details and identification, and in most cases personal guarantees from the directors or significant shareholders. Newly incorporated companies are considered by many lenders, though the personal guarantee requirement is almost universal in those cases.

Our guide to bridging loans for limited companies and SPVs covers the differences in detail, including how lenders assess SPV applications, what personal guarantee terms typically look like, and what documents are needed to move quickly.

On a straightforward case, commercial bridging loans typically complete within two to four weeks of full application submission. The main variables are the valuation (commercial valuers are less available than residential, and some property types require specialist valuers), the legal process (commercial titles can carry more complexity than residential), and document preparation. Auction purchases operating under a 28-day completion deadline are achievable with good preparation, but require all three workstreams to begin simultaneously from day one. Our guide to bridging loans: the real-world timeline explains what happens week by week.

The most reliable way to accelerate the process is to have solicitors already instructed, the property accessible for a survey, and your document pack assembled before your first broker conversation. The SME document preparation guide covers exactly what to have ready.

In almost all cases, commercial bridging loans are unregulated. The FCA regulatory framework for mortgages and consumer credit applies to loans secured against property where the borrower (or a close family member) occupies or intends to occupy the property as their main residence. Commercial, investment, and development property does not meet that test, so the loan falls outside FCA regulation. This means the specific conduct rules and consumer protections that apply to regulated residential bridging do not apply here.

Unregulated does not mean unprotected. Lenders and brokers operating in the commercial market are still subject to general commercial law, their own regulatory permissions for business lending, and industry codes of conduct. However, the formal complaint pathway to the Financial Ombudsman Service that exists for regulated products is not available. This is one of the reasons why working with an experienced specialist broker matters in commercial bridging: their knowledge of lender conduct and their professional obligations provide a degree of protection even in the unregulated space. Our guide to regulated vs unregulated bridging explains the distinction fully.

If the exit takes longer than the agreed term, interest continues to accrue on the outstanding balance. Most lenders charge a default rate above the contractual rate once the term expires, which can add cost quickly. There are two main options: requesting a formal extension from your existing lender (possible if the lender is confident the exit is still achievable and the loan is not in significant arrears), or refinancing onto a new bridging product from a different lender. Both options become harder and more expensive if arrears have already developed, which is why it is important to engage with your broker or lender well before the term expires if you can see the exit is going to be delayed.

Our guide to extensions vs refinancing covers both options in detail, including how to assess which is more cost-effective in your specific situation.

Yes, and semi-commercial bridging is a common use case. A mixed-use property, typically a retail or office unit on the ground floor with residential flats above, falls between residential and commercial classification. How a lender treats it depends on the commercial percentage of the total floor area. Where the commercial element is less than around 40 percent, some lenders will consider it under residential criteria; above that threshold, it is generally assessed as commercial. Our guide to semi-commercial and mixed-use bridging explains how classification works and how it affects available LTV.

The key consideration for semi-commercial bridging is that the exit needs to accommodate the mixed-use nature of the property. Not all mortgage lenders will refinance a mixed-use building, so confirming the exit is accessible before proceeding is particularly important on these cases.

Yes. VAT bridging is a specific and well-established product for commercial property purchases where the seller has opted to tax the property. In these cases, the buyer must pay 20 percent VAT on the purchase price at completion, which can represent a significant additional cash requirement. VAT bridging covers this liability at completion; the loan is then repaid when HMRC processes the VAT reclaim, which typically takes four to twelve weeks depending on whether there is a VAT registration in place and whether HMRC requests a visit.

Our guide to VAT bridging loans explains how the product works, when a Transfer of a Going Concern (TOGC) might remove the VAT liability entirely, and what documentation is needed to arrange VAT finance quickly.