A Bridging Loan can take many forms, there are open and closed bridging loans and commercial loans. The loan you need will depend on the purpose, or what you are looking to purchase.

The majority of Bridging Loans or Bridging Finance in the UK are secured loans. A Bridging loan is a loan which requires some form of security, basically you are securing the loans against your home/property/Land or commercial property. It is sometimes called a Bridging Mortgage, and generally you can borrow up to £500,000, but can be up to £25 million. Bridging Loans can be used for almost any purpose and can usually be completed very quickly, dependent upon valuations and conveyancers. There are various sources of Bridging Finance, the more popular being your own bank and several high street lenders and a proliferation of specialist lenders. If you looking for self employed loans or have a adverse / Bad credit profile you may find it more expensive due to the higher risk.Typically this form of finance is used for quick funds over a short term and approx 70% LTV.

Another option is a secured loan which is a loan which is secured on your property, you can usually borrow up to £100,000 or more dependent upon the equity available in your property. They are usually easier to obtain because you have the security of your property as collateral. This makes the loan, less of a risk to the lender and usually you can get a better rate with a secured loan than an unsecured loan, especially if your profile is adverse in any way.

The process for a secured loan does take longer, most companies, in the right circumstances, can complete a secured loan within 10-15 working days. This is dependent upon several factors, one of which is the loan amount, if under £25,000 the loan is termed a regulated loan and has a cooling off period, if the loan is over £25,000 then it is termed an unregulated loan and can be completed much quicker. Other factors include your current first charge / mortgage company, if they have a restriction on your property then consent for second charge needs to be obtained, this can take anywhere from 2-8 working days dependent upon the lender.