Bridging finance
Deal box · EUR 1M to 50M+
Borrowers · Short-term facilities
What a bridging loan does.
See our approachA bridge sits at the short end of a deal box that runs from 6 to 72 months, sized to the time its exit needs and no longer.
Facilities across that range, with exceptions considered case by case, secured against the property at up to 75% of its value.
The repayment route is identified before indicative terms are issued: a sale, a refinancing, or the longer facility the bridge is waiting for.
A commercial bridging loan finances property held as a business: development land, a hotel, a residential block bought to sell or to let. It closes the gap between the moment a deal has to complete and the moment the permanent money arrives.
Watson AM does not lend. We assess the project, structure the bridge and its security, prepare the file and present it to the investors in our network it suits. Each investor makes its own assessment and the funding decision.
How fast a bridge moves.
Bridging finance is usually needed against a deadline. These are the timings on our side; the investors’ own checks and the registration of the security set the rest.
Enquire
The asset, the amount and term sought, and the exit. A short brief is enough to begin.
Read
A principal reads the brief, checks it against the deal box and asks for anything missing.
Terms
Indicative terms in writing, with the proposed security and the exit set out.
Investors decide
Each investor runs its own checks and decides; 58 days is our average from mandate to funding.
Indicative terms are subject to investor approval, due diligence and final documentation. Funding is not guaranteed.
Every bridge is built from its exit.
A bridge is repaid from a defined event, and the investors read that event before anything else. Pick a route to see what they test.
Repayment comes from selling the property or its units. Investors read the realistic price, the demand behind it and how long a sale takes in that market, and the term is sized to give the sale room to happen.
What investors test
- The realistic price
- Depth of demand
- Time to sell
Repayment comes from a new, longer loan once the property has reached a steadier state: built, let or stabilised. It depends on the lending market at maturity, so investors test it at the loan-to-value a new lender would accept on the day the bridge falls due.
What investors test
- Value at maturity
- Lender appetite
- Built, let or stabilised
The bridge secures a site or a building while permits are obtained, then converts into development finance drawn against the works. Investors read the permit path and the facility it hands over to.
What investors test
- The permit path
- The development facility
- Cost and timing of the works
From the case files.
A UK plot, termed within a week.
Facility
CHF 4'200'000
land acquisition
Loan-to-value
66%
Term
18 months
Term sheet
1 week
from first contact
A developer had been looking for financing for more than 18 months before the file reached us. The facility finances the purchase of a plot as the first phase of a residential development, with later phases to follow.
We moved quickly: the term sheet was issued within a week of first contact, secured by a first-rank mortgage and a personal guarantee. See all twelve case files.
Bridging questions.
The questions developers ask first. If yours is not here, write to us and we’ll take it from there.
What is a bridging loan?
A bridging loan is short-term finance secured on property, used to close a purchase or a refinancing while the longer-term money, a sale or a permit is still on its way. It runs for months rather than years and is repaid from an exit identified at the start. Watson AM arranges bridging loans for developers and property owners across Europe and presents each one to the investors in its network it suits.
How much can I borrow with a bridging loan?
Our deal box runs from EUR 1M to EUR 50M+, with exceptions considered case by case, at up to 75% loan-to-value. Where a facility lands inside that range depends on the valuation, the security offered and the strength of the exit.
How quickly can a bridging loan be arranged?
A principal reads your brief within 24 hours, and indicative terms follow within 72 hours of a complete enquiry. Across our files, the average from mandate to funding is 58 days, much of it set by the investors' own checks and the registration of the security. Indicative terms are subject to investor approval, due diligence and final documentation. Funding is not guaranteed.
How is Watson AM different from a bridging finance broker?
A broker takes a borrower's file to lenders and passes their offers back. Watson AM arranges the bridge itself: we structure the facility and its security around the exit, prepare the file and present it to the investors in our network it suits, and each of them decides whether to fund. Brokers are welcome to bring us a client's bridge through the enquiry, choosing Broker / Introducer as their role.
Do you arrange commercial bridging loans in the UK?
Yes. The UK is one of the eleven European markets we work in, alongside Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the Nordic countries, Spain, Italy and France. One of our published case files is a UK land acquisition: CHF 4'200'000 at 66% loan-to-value, with a term sheet within a week of first contact.