Commercial bridging finance
Commercial Bridging Loans Reading
Short-term lending against retail, office, industrial, leisure and mixed-use property. Thames Valley Park, Green Park, Reading International and the Theale distribution corridor.
- Decisions in hours
- Completion in days
- £100k to £25m
- Berkshire specialists
Reading · Berkshire
Bridge to your next move.
About commercial bridging
Short-term property finance across Reading and Berkshire.
Commercial bridging is short-term lending secured against commercial property. The asset can be retail, office, industrial, leisure, healthcare or mixed-use. The use case is typically a purchase pre-refinance, a refurbishment or change-of-use project, a capital raise against an unencumbered or low-LTV commercial asset, or a stop-gap while a long-term commercial term loan is arranged. For Reading business owners and commercial investors operating across Thames Valley Park, Green Park, Reading International Business Park, the Forbury and the Theale distribution corridor, commercial bridging is the product that unblocks deals on a timeline a high-street commercial lender cannot match. The Thames Valley tech-corridor occupier base (Microsoft UK HQ, Oracle UK HQ, Cisco Systems, PepsiCo UK, Sage UK, Verizon and ING Bank) makes the local commercial market unusually deep, but the underwriting still needs to be tight.
Commercial bridging suits commercial property investors, owner-managed businesses, limited company SPVs and small developers buying, refurbishing or raising capital against commercial premises. Typical Reading borrowers include logistics operators acquiring warehousing along the M4 J11 and J12 corridor and into Theale and Calcot, technology and software businesses buying or releasing equity against office units in Thames Valley Park and the Green Park business district, retail and leisure operators on Broad Street, around The Oracle shopping centre and Kings Walk, and small developers buying tired commercial stock with a residential conversion plan around Caversham Road, Friar Street and the Station Hill regeneration zone. The product also fits owner-occupiers raising capital against their own trading premises pre-refinance. It does not suit owner-occupier residential security; that work is regulated and sits under our regulated bridging route.
A typical case
How a commercial bridging case runs in Reading.
A technology services business based at Thames Valley Park wants to buy the freehold of the smaller office building they currently lease, off the Reading International Business Park edge. Purchase price £1.6 million, against an open market value of £1.78 million on a recent independent valuation. The vendor needs to complete in six weeks for tax reasons. The business's long-term commercial term loan application is sitting with their high-street relationship bank, but the bank's underwriting timeline runs to 12 weeks minimum. We package a commercial bridge against the office building at 65% loan to value, total £1.04 million. Rate 0.95% per month, term 12 months, serviced interest, exit to the bank's commercial investment loan once it completes in around three months. Indicative terms back in 48 hours, valuation in 10 working days, completion 21 working days after instruction. The business completes inside the vendor's window, the high-street commercial facility completes 11 weeks later, and the bridge redeems on schedule. Similar mechanics work for retail acquisitions on Broad Street, mixed-use blocks above the high street in Caversham and Tilehurst, and the warehouse-and-trade-counter stock that anchors the Theale and Calcot Industrial supply chain.
Rates and fees
What this product costs.
Commercial bridging prices between 0.75% and 1.4% per month. The wide range reflects the heterogeneity of commercial security: a vacant office block in a thin sub-market prices very differently from a let warehouse on a 10-year lease to an investment-grade tenant. Cases at 60% to 65% loan to value with a strong tenant or owner-occupier covenant and a clear refinance exit sit at the lower end. Cases with vacant possession, short-leased tenants, or speculative asset positioning sit higher. Arrangement fees run 1.5% to 2.5% of the loan. Valuation fees on commercial property are typically £2,000 to £8,000 depending on asset complexity. Legal fees both sides £3,000 to £8,000 per side, more for complex mixed-use or part-let cases. No exit fee on most products.
Loan size and term
LTV ceiling and how long you borrow for.
Commercial bridging typically tops out at 70% loan to value against open market value for clean commercial security, with most cases settling at 60% to 65%. Vacant commercial properties sit lower, often 55% to 60%. Investment-grade let commercial can reach 70%. Terms run 1 to 24 months, with most cases using 9 to 12 months. Prime Thames Valley Park and Green Park stock with strong covenants can stretch the LTV ceiling on the strongest cases.
Exit options
How the loan redeems.
Commercial bridging has three main exit routes. First, refinance to a long-term commercial term loan with a high-street challenger or specialist commercial lender. Second, sale of the property, particularly where the borrower's plan is acquire, reposition, sell. Third, refinance to a portfolio commercial investment facility for borrowers with multiple let commercial assets. Lenders want a clear primary exit at the offer stage, with realistic timing and a credible counterparty. A borrower whose only exit is a refinance with one named challenger bank on contingent terms looks weaker than a borrower with the term loan already in process plus a saleable backup.
What makes a deal work
The clean cases.
Commercial cases run cleanly when the asset is straightforward (let to a real tenant on a real lease, vacant possession with a real owner-occupier plan, or refurb-and-let with a clear leasing strategy), when the borrower has commercial property experience, and when the exit is clear. Cases also strengthen where the property is in a liquid Reading commercial micro-market: along the M4 logistics corridor, around Thames Valley Park, on the Broad Street and Oracle retail spines, or in the established office and tech-corridor stock around Green Park and Reading International Business Park.
What doesn't
Where cases break.
Cases break where the commercial asset is in a thin sub-market with poor comparables, where the tenant covenant is weak or short, where the borrower has no commercial track record, or where the exit relies on a single named lender with no backup. Vacant commercial buildings in declining locations are also difficult; lenders price them at low loan to value and steep rates, and many will not lend at all. EPC sub-E commercial stock under the MEES regime increasingly fails at valuation unless there is a clear and costed remediation plan.
Our process
From first call to drawdown.
Step one, a triage call. Bring the property, the tenant or owner-occupier position, the use case, the exit, and the timeline. Step two, we package the case and put it to three or four commercial bridging lenders depending on the asset class. Indicative terms back inside 48 hours for a standard commercial case. Step three, valuation instructed by a surveyor with commercial expertise, legals running in parallel. Step four, full credit at the lender, typically 7 to 14 working days for commercial cases. Step five, drawdown. Standard timeline from triage to drawdown is 21 to 28 working days, longer than residential because of commercial valuation timelines. Commercial bridging on commercial property is not FCA-regulated. We are not directly authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority; we work with FCA-authorised partners for regulated lending.
Talk to us
Tell us about the deal.
A quick triage call, then indicative lender terms inside 24 hours. We work Reading and across Berkshire.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions on commercial bridging
Can commercial bridging fund a mixed-use property in Reading?
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Yes. Mixed-use is one of the most common asset classes we bridge across Reading, particularly retail-with-flats above on the Broad Street, Friar Street and Caversham Road high streets and around the Station Hill regeneration zone. The lender values the residential and commercial elements separately and the loan to value sits against the combined open market value. Expect a slightly more involved valuation than a pure commercial property and a slightly longer legal process.
How is a vacant commercial property treated for bridging?
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Vacant commercial property is harder to bridge than let commercial property because the lender has no rental income covenant to support the loan. Most lenders cap vacant commercial bridging at 55% to 60% loan to value and price it at the higher end of the commercial range. Where the borrower has a clear lease-up plan, a real owner-occupier intention, or a change-of-use to residential, the case looks better. Where the asset is vacant with no plan, lenders typically decline.
Can a Reading distribution business raise capital against its warehouse?
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Yes. Capital raise against an unencumbered or low-LTV commercial property is a common bridging use case among logistics operators around the M4 J11 and J12 corridor and the Theale distribution belt. The bridge releases short-term capital, typically for working capital, equipment, or a separate property acquisition, with the exit usually a commercial term loan refinance against the same property a few months later. Loan to value sits at 60% to 65% for clean owner-occupier commercial security.
Next step
Talk to a Reading bridging specialist about commercial bridging.
Indicative terms in 24 hours. We work commercial bridging cases across Reading and the wider Berkshire market on a same-day enquiry response.