For a long time, bridging loans have been a seldomly used and often expensive finance facility, but they have now evolved into a much lower cost product with many uses. Often unregulated, how do you know which of the many lenders are the best?
Following the credit crunch in 2008 the High Street banks withdrew their low volume high risk products in order to concentrate their resources into dealing with their main products like overdrafts, bank loans and residential mortgages.
This led people looking for bridging loans to look elsewhere. KIS Finance entered the market at this point, along with other existing finance providers. Many new lenders who were just looking to provide short term bridging loans also took the opportunity to set up.
Since then, bridging loans have advanced and now offer much more, and despite base interest rates increasing, bridging has become much cheaper. This has led bridging to become an increasingly popular method of finance for what is now quite an evolved range of uses.
There are now hundreds of bridging lenders, most are unregulated, with around 20 lenders being regulated by the FCA.
As bridging is still very new, and most people have no experience of bridging, how do borrowers know which bridging lenders are the best to obtain bridging loan quotes from, as it is quite a wide choice?
At KIS Bridging Loans we are completely independent bridging brokers, who have been one of the UKs main bridging loan providers for the past 18 years. We have seen many lenders enter and leave the market and have experienced, first hand, a huge number of changes in the bridging industry.
We have put together a comprehensive and thoughtful list of who we feel are currently the 12 best bridging loan providers. This is based on the lenders who offer:
The list has no specific order of preference, and there is a bit of a mix of lenders to cover most circumstances. Each lender listed is experienced and fair. We are happy to use them to arrange bridging loans for our valued clients.
| Name | Location | Best For | Services | Rates from | Max LTV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Precise Mortgages | Hampshire | Low interest rates, low set up costs, dual representation, AVMs and a fast service | Regulated and unregulated bridging | 0.6% pm | 75% OMV |
| Octopus Property | Newcastle | Low rates, AVMs, second charge bridging loans | Regulated and unregulated bridging | 0.55% pm | 75% OMV |
| United Trust Bank (UTB) | London | Low rates for first and second charge bridging, lease extensions and non standard construction | Regulated and unregulated bridging | 0.61% pm | 75% OMV |
| Market Harborough Building Society - MHBS | Market Harborough | Low rates and regulated loan terms over 12 months - 2 year and 5 year plans | Regulated and unregulated bridging | 0.58% pm | 75% OMV |
| Glenhawk | London | Low interest rates, dual legal representation, commercial properties and land with planning | Regulated and unregulated bridging | 0.61% pm | 75% OMV |
| Streambank | Cardiff | Re-bridging, flexible underwriting for adverse credit, and will provide second charge bridging | Regulated and unregulated bridging | 0.70 pm | 75% OMV |
| MT Finance | London | Very competitive for adverse credit cases and also second charge bridging | Regulated and unregulated bridging | 0.79% pm | 70% Regulated, |
| Funding 365 | London | Competitive rates for high LTV loans, large loans, commercial and semi-commercial property | Unregulated bridging only | 0.69% pm | 75% OMV |
| Hampshire Trust Bank – HTB | London | Competitive rates for high LTV loans, large loans, commercial and semi-commercial property | Unregulated bridging only | 0.75% pm | 75% OMV |
| Castle Trust Bank | London | Will lend to 80% LTV (net) at a competitive interest rate | Unregulated bridging only | 0.7% pm | 80% net OMV |
| Lendinvest | London | Will lend to 85% LTV gross for refurbishment projects and will lend against commercial property | Unregulated bridging only | 0.75% pm | 85% OMV |
| Octane Capital | London | Competitive interest rates and a plan for 75% LTV net plus 100% refurbishment costs | Unregulated bridging only | 0.73% pm | 75% net OMV |
Precise Mortgages started offering bridging loans back in 2012. Charter Court Financial Services, the parent company of Precise Mortgages, was acquired by One Savings Bank in October 2019.
Since then, Precise have continually made good use of the many years of experience they have had in this sector, providing excellent all round bridging products.
For the past 10 or so years, Precise have been one of the largest providers of bridging loans, with both their interest rates and set up costs being consistently amongst the most competitive in the market.
Precise Mortgages provide both regulated and unregulated bridging loans, and are one of a small number of lenders who calculate interest on unregulated agreements using the roll up method, rather than the retained interest method.
They will not lend on semi-commercial or full commercial properties. However, Interbay, another bridging lender in the One Savings Bank Group, do provide bridging loans on semi commercial and full commercial property.
Currently Precise only provide first charge bridging loans, but will take a second charge on any properties being used as additional security.
Octopus Property was previously known as Dragonfly, which was set up in 2009 before rebranding to Octopus in 2016. They are part of the Octopus Group, well known as one of the UK’s main energy suppliers.
Octopus currently offer the lowest genuine monthly interest rate in the sector, which is 0.55% per month.
They are an FCA regulated lender who provide bridging loans ranging from £50,000 to £1 million.
Their maximum loan to value for regulated loans is 65%, and slightly more at 70% for unregulated loans.
Octopus also offer a very useful product for refurbishment projects. For these they will provide 75% loan to value Net, and also fund 100% of the refurbishment costs, in arrears.
This means that for such a project they will fund 75% of the purchase price, then add their facility fee and 12 months interest on top of this figure.
On top of the 75% net, to purchase the property, they will also add to this 100% of the refurbishment costs, but paid in arrears. This means they will fund the costs of works once the work has been carried out.
In practice, this is done in stages. For example, some work is carried out, then a surveyor will come out to check the work, which if it’s all satisfactory they will report back to Octopus, who will release money to cover the cost of that work.
United Trust Bank started trading way back in 1955, then they mainly provided development finance. In 2001 they were acquired by Insinger de Beaufort, an Anglo-Dutch Bank, then in 2004 there was a management buyout.
Today United Trust Bank are a completely independent Bank.
UTB have been providing bridging loans since 2010, during which time they have always provided competitive interest rates on their bridging products.
Where they stand out is due to their flexible lending criteria and providing low rate loans where others won’t. They have no age restrictions, so are often the go to lender for older applicants, especially those who are over 80 years old.
UTB are one of only a handful of lenders who roll up interest on unregulated loans, whereas most other regulated lenders revert to the retained interest method on unregulated loan facilities. For like for like loans where interest is paid at the end of the term, interest charged on roll up as opposed to retained interest works out cheaper for the borrower.
They have first charge interest rates starting from 0.61% per month (up to 50% LTV) going up to 0.72% per months (up to 75% LTV)
With regards to second charge bridging loans, UTB are one of a small number of lenders who provide these, and for this their rates are competitive. Second charge interest rates range from 0.90% per month up to 0.95% per month and they will lend up to 70% LTV which is a leading maximum LTV for second charge bridging.
Market Harborough Building Society is the oldest lender on our list, having started trading back in 1870. They started to openly provide bridging loans in March 2022, to High Net Worth (HNW) borrowers.
MHBS offer attractive interest rates, but what makes them unique is that they can provide regulated loans with terms over 12 months. They offer regulated bridging loans with up to 24 month terms, and for some borrowers they can offer up to 60 months loan terms.
For loans over 12 months, borrowers will need to be able to afford and budget to make the monthly repayments, or they can have roll up interest over some or all of the loan term, provided that they are classed as High Net Worth (HNW).
To qualify for High Net Worth a client will need to have £3 million or more in net assets, or earn in excess of £300,000 per year.
Interest rates start from 0.58% per month on a limited basis, or more generally from 0.61% per month.
Glenhawk was set up as a bridging loan lender in January 2018 by Guy Harrington, with backing from Rightmove founder Harry Hill.
The lender has been very successful and has experienced fast growth. They have a funding capacity of over £700 million and are looking to soon hit an annual lending target of £1 billion.
Having become FCA regulated in 2020, they now provide both regulated and unregulated bridging loans with interest rates starting from just 0.61% per month for limited facilities, but more often 0.69%. They are also able to provide loans up to 75% LTV with rates as low as 0.69% per month for again a limited number of facilities.
They are one of a limited numbers of lenders who will lend on semi commercial and full commercial properties.
Glenhawk are also good for re-bridging bridging loans from other lenders that have reached the end of their term.
StreamBank set up specifically as a regulated bridging loan lender, obtaining their FCA authorisation on 28th June 2022 over a year before their launch.
They put in place a team made up of individuals who had plenty of bridging industry experience, and started trading in October 2023. Since then they have grown quickly thanks to a good funding line, competitive interest rates, high loan to values and the industry experienced team.
Their minimum loan size is £100,000 and maximum is £3 million. As an FCA regulated lender they provide both regulated and unregulated bridging loans.
Best interest rate is currently 0.70%, which is good but not up with the market leaders. However their interest rate for loans up to 75% LTV is only 0.84% which is more competitive.
Stream Bank have more flexibility than lenders like Precise and Octopus with regards to adverse credit, they also offer second charge bridging loans and are good at re-bridging, especially for cases that are less straightforward.
MT Finance was set up in 2008 by Tomer Aboody and Joshua Elash, to specifically provide bridging loans. They were very quick to recognise the potential for bridging loans and were one of the first lenders to set up following the Credit Crunch.
They initially just provided unregulated bridging loans, later becoming a regulated lender and expanding into regulated bridging along with other finance products including secured loans, buy to lets and commercial mortgages.
Regulated loans are available up to 70% LTV, and unregulated are capped a little more at 75% LTV, when secured against residential property.
For both regulated and unregulated loans the minimum loan size is £50,000, but sometimes they will provide facilities for lower amounts on a referral basis. The maximum size for a regulated loans with MT Finance is £2.5 million and for unregulated loans this is increased to £10 million.
MT Finance can provide loans where there is a lot of adverse credit, and will also provide second charge bridging loans. For both adverse credit and second charge lending their rates are extremely competitive.
As for where they will lend, this is limited to mainland England and Wales, they can’t lend in Scotland or Northern Ireland at present.
Funding 365 was set up as a bridging loan provider back in 2013 by Mike Strange and Jeff Stolz. Now with over 12 years trading experience they are one of the more experienced lenders and are known for their speed and competitive deals.
A big positive that Funding 365 have over others, is that they have kept themselves compact and efficient. They provide lending decisions quickly, and here they stand out because when they say yes they stick to it! Unlike others, the owner is in the office with his team and he knows the applications that fit their lending appetite. Hence he can provide quick decisions and stick to them, not change his mind or move the goal posts further down the line, which just wastes a borrower’s valuable time.
They are also useful for providing large size loans which are secured against single high value properties. Many lenders don’t like providing large loans that are secured against just one high value property as they can be difficult to sell, and the values of these types of properties can be unpredictable and subject to significant price swings.
Hampshire Trust Bank started trading back in 1977 where they provided mortgages to homebuyers in and around Portsmouth. In May 2014 they were acquired by Alchemy Partners who are a private equity Firm.
Although they have had bridging loans as part of their products since 2016, they hadn’t been very active in this market until October 2022, when they relaunched with more bridging products and a new team made up of individuals who all had considerable previous experience in the bridging industry.
Hampshire Trust Bank interest rates start from 0.75% per month and only provide unregulated bridging loans with loan terms up to 24 months. Their loans range in size from £100,000 to normally £10 million, but can lend up to £25 million for development exit funding.
HTB are one of a more limited number of bridging lenders who provide bridging secured against commercial properties, where they offer rates from 0.9% per month.
Since they don’t tier, their rates are competitive for loans that are of a high loan to value, as unlike most other lenders they don’t tend to have increased rates for higher loan to values. So not as competitive for low LTV loans, but very competitive for high LTV facilities.
Castle Trust Bank started trading back in October 2012, known then as Castle Trust. They entered the finance market as a specialist mortgage provider, then in June 2020 they received their banking licence and became Castle Trust Bank.
Bridging loans have been one of their products for many years, but it has only been since late 2022 that Castle Trust introduced a range of useful and interesting bridging loan options.
They only provide unregulated bridging loans, but they are one of a limited number of lenders who will lend in Scotland, along with England and Wales.
Castle Trust Bank have a market leading product that lends up to 80% LTV net based on an open market valuation, with an interest rate of just 0.7% per month!
Established back in 2008 when the growth in the demand for bridging loans was just starting, Lendinvest was originally known as Montello Capital Partners and Montello Bridging Finance. In 2013 Montello was rebranded and Lendinvest was officially launched.
Lendinvest provide bridging loans from £75,000 and will lend on land with planning permission up to 60% LTV.
They will also lend on refurbishment projects up to 85% LTV gross.
Octane Capital started trading in May 2017, and was founded by Mark Posniak, Jonathan Samuels and Matt Smith. With interest rates from 0.73% per month, they specialise in providing bridging loans for refurbishment projects and development exit loans.
Unlike other lenders, Octane offer loans up to 75% net, and will also provide 100% of the refurbishment costs.
Octane will roll their interest rather than deduct it, which like for like works out cheaper for the borrower.
The team has lots of experience of developments and are a lender who borrowers can talk to and arrange loan facilities that suit their circumstances best. For example, they are flexible with regards to Personal Guarantees (PGs) and also how sale proceeds are split as units are sold.
Last updated: 19 November 2025 | © KIS Bridging Loans 2024