Are Bridging Loans Secured on Leasehold Commercial Units?

You hold, or you are buying, a long leasehold office, shop or warehouse. Completion is dated. Then the Report on Title flags a charging restriction: no mortgage without the freeholder's written consent.

That is usually when people start asking whether bridging loans are secured, and on what. They are not asking for a textbook. They need to know if a first legal charge can be granted in time.

Credit can often be agreed within a day. Drawdown still waits on the landlord. On commercial leasehold stock, that gap is the deal.

What a lender actually takes as security

Are bridging loans secured? In private credit they are. Rikvin Capital is a direct private lender, not a bank. We lend to high-net-worth individuals, SPVs and corporates against the asset and a credible exit, not against salary.

On a commercial leasehold the core security is a first legal charge over the lease, registered at HM Land Registry. Tenanted buildings usually add an assignment of rents. Where the borrower is an SPV, a debenture over the company sits behind that.

Vacant or part-let units are considered case by case, subject to terms; where one is agreed, the rent assignment simply drops out until a tenant is in. That package is what commercial bridging loans are built on. None of it works if the lease will not let you grant the charge.

When the lease bars charging without consent

Full repairing and insuring leases often say you cannot charge the property without the landlord's prior written consent, not to be unreasonably withheld. Some older headleases are harsher. A few forbid charging altogether.

Until that licence is issued, you cannot complete the first charge. Solicitors will not let the facility draw. This is a title problem, not a rate problem.

The freeholder's solicitor will want the form of charge, sometimes a deed of priority, and a fee. Budget time for that correspondence. Unreasonable withholding is a legal argument, not a drawdown plan. Do not rely on it to hit a dated completion.

Unexpired term matters as well. A bridge of 3–24 months still needs enough residue beyond the exit. A short remaining term can undermine the security even when the freeholder is willing. That is why the lending process starts with the lease, not with a bank-style Decision in Principle.

Workarounds when a deadline will not wait

Start the licence to charge the day heads of terms are agreed. Run it in parallel with valuation, KYC and source of funds. If a previous lender already obtained consent, ask whether it can be reused or restated.

A 28-day auction completion leaves almost no slack. If the lease needs a fresh licence, treat that as a bid risk before you raise a paddle, not after. UK auction bridging only works when the charge is grantable inside that window.

Share charges and debentures can be documented while the landlord's solicitor works. They do not replace a first charge over the unit if that is what the term sheet requires. An unsecured loan is not the fallback; that is not what this desk does. If the freeholder is simply slow, see the full range of UK bridging products and whether the timetable still fits.

When a bridge is the wrong tool

A bridge is the right tool when the asset will take a first charge and the exit is dated. We issue an indicative term sheet within 24 hours, and drawdown typically runs about two weeks. It is the wrong tool when the lease prohibits charging, the freeholder will not consent, the residue is too short, or there is no sale, refinance or development exit inside the tenor.

The main risk is simple. You spend weeks on legal work and still cannot grant the charge, so the facility never draws and the purchase or refinance fails. The second risk is an exit that slips past a 3–24 month term. Related: bridging finance for a London investment property.

Rikvin has funded 300+ deals since 2018, including first charges over hotels, investment stock and mixed commercial buildings. That does not mean every leasehold unit will qualify. Vacant shops and offices are considered case by case, subject to terms, and only where title and exit stand up; vacant commercial buyers in London face the same consent clock. The fact that bridging loans are secured is not the same as the charge being grantable this week.