Arranging a £220,000 commercial bridge when legal delays threatened the deal

The Situation

A father and son approached us requiring urgent short-term funding to complete the purchase of a commercial property.

The purchase was already progressing and failure to complete within the required timeframe would have resulted in the loss of the opportunity and potentially the client’s deposit.

The deal itself was strong.

The loan was supported by two forms of security:

Due to the strong security position and low overall loan-to-value, the lender was comfortable progressing the case without requiring a valuation, removing both time and cost from the process.

Funding approval was achieved quickly. However, the final stages of the transaction introduced an unexpected challenge.

The Challenge

While the funding was ready to proceed, the client’s solicitor had limited experience dealing with bridging finance.

Bridging facilities operate differently from traditional property loans, particularly in relation to:

As a result, the solicitor required additional time to review and understand the documentation and process.

This created delays during a stage of the transaction where speed is usually critical.

To allow the deal to proceed, the client needed to negotiate a ten-day extension with the vendor.

Without intervention, there was a real risk that misunderstanding of the bridging process could cause the transaction to collapse.

The Solution

We remained closely involved to ensure the deal continued to progress.

Working with both the lender and the legal teams, we helped clarify the structure of the facility and the steps required to complete.

This included:

By maintaining active oversight and ensuring questions were addressed quickly, we helped prevent the legal process from stalling the transaction.

The Outcome

The £220,000 bridging facility was successfully arranged with the right lender.

Following the negotiated extension, the purchase of the commercial property completed successfully.

Funding was ready for release within 48 hours of final approval, allowing the client to move forward with the acquisition and avoid losing both the property and the associated deposit.

The Takeaway

In bridging finance, the biggest challenge is often not securing the funding itself.

It is ensuring every party involved understands the speed and structure of the transaction.

By supporting the legal process and keeping communication aligned between lender, solicitor and client, we were able to keep the deal alive and deliver a successful completion under significant time pressure.