Bridging Finance for a Broken Property Chain

A broken property chain can cost you the home you want, and bridging finance is the fix. There are few things more frustrating in property than losing the home you want because of a problem that has nothing to do with you. Your buyer pulls out, or their buyer does, and suddenly the chain collapses. […]

Bridging Loan Exit Strategies: How to Repay on Time

Bridging loan exit strategies are your plan for repaying a bridge on time, and they matter more than the loan itself. Everyone focuses on getting a bridging loan. Far fewer think hard about getting out of one, which is odd, because the exit is the part lenders care about most and the part most likely […]

Development Finance for Conversions and Change of Use

Development finance for conversions funds the messy middle when you turn a building from one use into another. Some of the best property opportunities are hiding in plain sight: the tired office block that would make a smart row of flats, the old shop nobody wants as a shop, the barn or warehouse crying out […]

Refinancing a Commercial Property: Your Options and the Right Timing

Owning a commercial property is not a set-and-forget decision. The mortgage you took out three years ago may no longer be the best one available, the deal might be coming to the end of its term, or there could be equity sitting in the building that you would rather have working elsewhere. Refinancing a commercial […]

Regulated vs Unregulated Bridging Loans: Which One Applies to You

Regulated and unregulated bridging loans look identical until you need one, and the difference decides who can help. Start looking into bridging finance and you quickly hit a fork in the road: regulated or unregulated. It sounds like small print, the sort of thing you nod at and move past. It is not. Whether your […]

What Commercial Mortgage Lenders Look For: How to Get Your Deal Approved

You have found the property, you have a rough idea of the numbers, and now the only question that matters is whether a lender will say yes. Commercial mortgage lenders do not work like the residential high street, where a computer scores your salary and spits out a decision. They underwrite the whole picture: the […]

Semi-Commercial Mortgages: Funding Mixed-Use Property

Semi-commercial mortgages are built for property that is part business and part home, the kind the high street struggles with. You have found a shop with a flat above it, or an office with a couple of apartments on the upper floors, and it looks like a smart buy. Two income streams, one building, one […]

Property Development Finance Explained, Stage by Stage

Property development finance is the funding that turns a plot or a tired building into finished, saleable units. You have found a site with real potential: a plot with planning, or a tired building crying out for conversion. The plan is sound, the numbers stack up, and then you try to fund it. A normal […]

How much deposit do you need for a mortgage?

Five per cent, if you are buying a home to live in and your circumstances are straightforward. Twenty five per cent or more if you are buying it to let. Somewhere between a quarter and a third for commercial property. And if you are buying at auction or funding a project, the whole idea of […]

How to Get Preapproved for a Mortgage

fGetting preapproved for a mortgage in the UK means getting a mortgage in principle, and the first hurdle is that nobody agrees what to call it. Agreement in principle, decision in principle, mortgage in principle, AIP, DIP, pre-approval. Six names, one document. It is a lender’s written indication of what it would lend you, based […]