Are Bridge Loans Hard to Get in Prime Central London?

A bank has already declined you, or you expect it to. The asset sits in Mayfair, Knightsbridge or Chelsea. The timeline is tight, and the question in your inbox is whether bridge loans are hard to get.

Usually not, provided the security and the exit are clean. On a prime central London file the borrower is rarely the problem. Income, residency and a thin UK credit file are why banks stall, not why a private lender walks away.

We underwrite the property and how you repay us. Those two items decide the file.

What actually causes a decline

Private credit on prime London bridging loans is an asset-and-exit decision. If you have been told bridging loans are hard to get, it is usually because one of four items will not stand up.

A vague or unevidenced exit

Saying you will refinance or sell is not an exit. A credible refinance needs a named product and a path a term lender would actually take. A sale needs a realistic price, a marketing period that fits the tenor, and a buyer pool that exists at that level.

Chain-break purchases fail for the same reason: if your own sale is not contracted, the repayment story is still a hope. We wrote about that when a prime central London vendor will not wait.

A valuation that lands short of price

Agreed price is not market value. If the surveyor comes in below the purchase price, the LTV you thought you had disappears. On prime streets that gap is not unusual.

We size to the lower of the purchase price and the valuation, at up to 75% LTV on an indicative basis. You fund any shortfall from equity.

Defects in the Report on Title

Short leases, defective leases, missing planning consents and restrictions surface here. HM Land Registry records the legal estate; it does not cure a short unexpired term or an unconsented alteration.

Short-lease lots are considered case by case, subject to terms, and only where the exit still works at that length.

Source-of-funds evidence that misses the window

KYC that cannot be assembled inside a two-week drawdown will stop the file as surely as a title defect. That is process, not prejudice.

Foreign principals and offshore SPVs should expect this to take longer than a UK-resident cash buyer. Start the trail before you instruct valuers.

What makes a Mayfair or Knightsbridge file underwritable

A clean file is specific. Named exit, evidenced. A valuation instruction that does not assume the purchase price. Title a solicitor can stand behind. Funds evidence already in motion.

Eligible security is typically a first charge over residential or mixed-use prime stock. Loan size is £1M – £100M, tenor 3–24 months, and interest is often rolled up, so a monthly cash test does not apply. Drawdown is typically about two weeks once diligence is complete, and an indicative term sheet follows within 24 hours.

If the borrower is a foreign national, an income test is the wrong frame. The work is still on the asset, the exit and KYC. We set out the detail in why UK banks turn down foreign nationals seeking short-term property finance.

Stamp duty on a purchase is a cash item, not a credit item. Stamp Duty Land Tax is payable on completion and needs to sit in the sources-and-uses. We do not give tax advice; we do need to see how SDLT and any ATED position are funded.

When a bridging loan is the wrong tool

A bridging loan is the right tool when you have a dated exit and a first-charge asset that will still be there if the timetable slips by a few weeks. Auction completions inside 28 days, a chain that will not wait, a refinance that has to complete on a fixed date: those are the jobs for UK bridging loans. Our term sheet goes out within 24 hours and drawdown is typically about two weeks.

It is the wrong tool if there is no credible exit inside 3–24 months. The main risk is that you still own the asset when the tenor ends, and you are refinancing or selling into a market that has moved against you.

Cost is higher than a term loan. That is the price of speed, not a reason to ignore the repayment plan. If the lease is too short for any term lender to take out, or planning is unresolved, fix the legal position or change the exit. You can see how the lending process works before you instruct valuers.

Fix the file before you apply

Are bridging loans hard to get in prime central London? Usually not, but you will struggle if the exit, the title and the funds trail are not evidenced. Send those three things first. Our term sheet follows within 24 hours, and drawdown is typically about two weeks.

Terms are indicative and subject to valuation and due diligence. We are a direct private lender, not a bank, and our borrowers are typically property investors, high-net-worth individuals and corporates.

The honest test is simple. Would a term lender or a cash buyer take you out on the date you have written down? If you cannot answer that, do not start the clock.