Commercial bridging finance
Specialist Commercial Bridging Loans Kent
Short-term lending against retail, office, industrial, leisure and mixed-use property across Kent. Bluewater retail catchment, Ebbsfleet logistics, Sandwich life-sciences and Maidstone county-town stock.
- Decisions in hours
- Completion in days
- £150k to £25m
- Kent property focus
Kent · Kent
Bridge to your next move.
About commercial bridging
Short-term property finance across Kent.
Commercial bridging is short-term lending secured against trading and investment commercial property. The asset can be retail, office, industrial, leisure, healthcare or mixed-use. The use case is typically a purchase before refinance, a refurbishment or change-of-use project, a capital raise against an unencumbered or low-LTV commercial asset, or a stop-gap while a long-term business loan is arranged. For Kent business owners and investors operating around the Bluewater anchor retail catchment, the Sandwich Discovery Park life-sciences cluster, the Ebbsfleet logistics hub and the Maidstone county-town high street, commercial bridging unblocks deals on a timeline a high-street business lender cannot match.
Commercial bridging suits commercial property investors, owner-managed businesses, limited company SPVs and small developers buying, refurbishing or raising capital against commercial premises. Typical Kent borrowers include logistics operators acquiring warehousing along the Ebbsfleet and Dartford A2 corridor, life-sciences suppliers buying or releasing equity against industrial units at Sandwich Discovery Park where the Pfizer legacy estate still anchors the market, retail and leisure operators in the Bluewater retail catchment and the Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells and Canterbury high-street pitches, and small developers buying tired commercial stock with a residential conversion plan under Class MA or full planning. The product also fits owner-occupiers raising capital against their own trading premises before refinance. It does not suit owner-occupier residential security; that work is regulated and sits under our regulated bridging route.
A typical case
How a commercial bridging case runs in Kent.
A logistics operator running a contract for one of the cross-channel freight forwarders wants to buy the freehold of the warehouse they currently lease, on the Ebbsfleet logistics estate close to the M25 and A2 junctions. Purchase price £1.2 million, against an open market value of £1.35 million on a recent independent valuation. The vendor needs to complete in 6 weeks for tax reasons. The operator's long-term business loan application is sitting with their high-street relationship bank, but the bank's underwriting timeline runs to 12 weeks minimum. We package a commercial bridge against the warehouse at 65% loan to value, total £780,000. Rate 0.95% per month, term 12 months, serviced interest, exit to the bank's investment loan once it completes in around 3 months. Indicative terms back in 48 hours, valuation in 10 working days, completion 21 working days after instruction. The operator completes inside the vendor's window, the high-street facility completes 11 weeks later, and the bridge redeems on schedule. Similar mechanics work for life-sciences and industrial acquisitions at Sandwich Discovery Park, mixed-use blocks above the Maidstone County Town high street, and the retail-anchor stock that sits inside the Bluewater catchment in the Dartford and Gravesham authorities.
Rates and fees
What this product costs.
Commercial bridging prices between 0.75% and 1.4% per month. The wide range reflects the heterogeneity of commercial security: a vacant office block in a thin sub-market prices very differently from a let warehouse on a 10-year lease to an investment-grade tenant. Cases at 60% to 65% loan to value with a strong tenant or owner-occupier covenant and a clear refinance exit sit at the lower end. Cases with vacant possession, short-leased tenants, or speculative asset positioning sit higher. Arrangement fees run 1.5% to 2.5% of the loan. Valuation fees on commercial property are typically £2,000 to £8,000 depending on asset complexity. Legal fees both sides £3,000 to £8,000 per side, more for complex mixed-use or part-let cases. No exit fee on most products.
Loan size and term
LTV ceiling and how long you borrow for.
Commercial bridging typically tops out at 70% loan to value against open market value for clean commercial security, with most cases settling at 60% to 65%. Vacant commercial properties sit lower, often 55% to 60%. Investment-grade let commercial can reach 70%. Terms run 1 to 24 months, with most cases using 9 to 12 months.
Exit options
How the loan redeems.
Commercial bridging has three main exit routes. First, refinance to a long-term business loan with a high-street challenger or specialist commercial lender. Second, sale of the property, particularly where the borrower's plan is acquire, reposition, sell. Third, refinance to a portfolio investment facility for borrowers with multiple let commercial assets. Lenders want a clear primary exit at the offer stage, with realistic timing and a credible counterparty. A borrower whose only exit is a refinance with one named challenger bank on contingent terms looks weaker than a borrower with the term loan already in process plus a saleable backup.
What makes a deal work
The clean cases.
Commercial cases run cleanly when the asset is straightforward (let to a real tenant on a real lease, vacant possession with a real owner-occupier plan, or refurb-and-let with a clear leasing strategy), when the borrower has commercial property experience, and when the exit is clear. Cases also strengthen where the property is in a liquid Kent commercial micro-market: along the Dartford and Ebbsfleet logistics corridor, around the Bluewater anchor catchment, on the Maidstone and Canterbury high-street spines, or within the Sandwich Discovery Park life-sciences cluster.
What doesn't
Where cases break.
Cases break where the commercial asset is in a thin sub-market with poor comparables, where the tenant covenant is weak or short, where the borrower has no commercial track record, or where the exit relies on a single named lender with no backup. Vacant commercial buildings in declining locations are also difficult; lenders price them at low loan to value and steep rates, and many will not lend at all.
Our process
From first call to drawdown.
Step one, a triage call. Bring the property, the tenant or owner-occupier position, the use case, the exit, and the timeline. Step two, we package the case and put it to three or four commercial bridging lenders depending on the asset class. Indicative terms back inside 48 hours for a standard commercial case. Step three, valuation instructed by a surveyor with commercial expertise, legals running in parallel. Step four, full credit at the lender, typically 7 to 14 working days for commercial cases. Step five, drawdown. Standard timeline from triage to drawdown is 21 to 28 working days, longer than residential because of commercial valuation timelines. Commercial bridging on commercial property is not FCA-regulated. We are not directly authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Talk to us
Tell us about the deal.
A quick triage call, then indicative lender terms inside 24 hours. We work Kent and across Kent.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions on commercial bridging
Can commercial bridging fund a mixed-use property in Kent?
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Yes. Mixed-use is one of the most common asset classes we bridge across the county, particularly retail-with-flats above on the Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury and Tonbridge high streets. The lender values the residential and commercial elements separately and the loan to value sits against the combined open market value. Expect a slightly more involved valuation than a pure commercial property and a slightly longer legal process.
How is a vacant commercial property treated for bridging?
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Vacant commercial property is harder to bridge than let commercial property because the lender has no rental income covenant to support the loan. Most lenders cap vacant commercial bridging at 55% to 60% loan to value and price it at the higher end of the commercial range. Where the borrower has a clear lease-up plan, a real owner-occupier intention, or a change-of-use to residential, the case looks better. Where the asset is vacant with no plan, lenders typically decline.
Can a Kent logistics business raise capital against its warehouse?
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Yes. Capital raise against an unencumbered or low-LTV commercial property is a common bridging use case among logistics and life-sciences operators around the Ebbsfleet and Dartford A2 corridor and the Sandwich Discovery Park cluster. The bridge releases short-term capital, typically for working capital, equipment, or a separate property acquisition, with the exit usually an investment loan refinance against the same property a few months later. Loan to value sits at 60% to 65% for clean owner-occupier commercial security.
Next step
Talk to a Kent bridging specialist about commercial bridging.
Indicative terms in 24 hours. We work commercial bridging cases across Kent and the wider Kent market on a same-day enquiry response.