Leveraging tech and partnerships for timely bridging completions

Bridging loans continue to play a hugely important role in the property market. Recent data from the Association of Short Term Lenders revealed that completions of bridging loans in the first quarter of this year passed £1.4bn, a jump of almost 12% on the previous quarter, while on a year-on-year basis the value of new bridging loan applications had jumped by more than 50%.

Clearly, investors are well aware of how bridging loans can support them and their purchase plans.

One of the big selling points of bridging loans has always been how swiftly the finance can be arranged. If an investor is up against a tight deadline - they have spotted a great property and need to move before others come in, or they have purchased a property at auction, for example - then a bridging loan is a vital tool.

With bridging, the funds can be in place within a matter of days, rather than the weeks or months that it may take to sort out a traditional buy-to-let mortgage. Without a bridging loan, many investors would simply be unable to complete the purchases that have made up a substantial portion of their portfolios.

Putting the brakes on

However, it’s true that things are not moving quite as swiftly as they usually do at the moment. In some cases, this is down to delays in the legal process - the conveyancing side of a bridging loan requires some level of specialism, which not all solicitors have.

In other cases, the issue lies with the borrower themselves. Understandably there is a little more hesitancy than usual in committing to deals.

Additionally, the sheer volume of bridging enquiries has shot up, causing more pressure on the management of these deals.

The upheaval across the mortgage market has led to some would-be investors holding off on going ahead with deals. They may be concerned about their chances of selling the property on for a profit, given the likely impact on demand from interest rate rises, or having second thoughts about retaining the property as an ongoing buy to let.

Despite speed and efficiency being points of appreciation in the bridging market, things have slowed down a touch.

The best use of a broker’s time

This can of course be enormously frustrating for brokers. Working in mortgage advice has never been a nine-to-five job, but the time involved with guiding borrowers in pinpointing the right product for them has rarely been so time intensive. We know that brokers are working around the clock, including over weekends, in order to support those desperately trying to get deals in place.

As a result, it’s a big ask to expect those already stretched brokers to also find the time to chase up bridging cases which may be progressing more slowly than usual. There are only so many hours in the day, after all.

Picking the right partners

Working with the right partners within the bridging space can help ease this pressure on broker workloads, though.

That starts with selecting the right lender at the outset. At Provide Finance we have built our platform to make identifying specialist products as simple as possible - it means that from the very beginning of the process the client is presented only with lenders who are best placed to get the deal over the line in a timeframe that suits them.

And even once the ball is rolling, our specialist team is on hand to liaise with the client directly should there be any hold ups, ensuring that the broker can get on with the various other items on their to-do list.

At Provide, we understand that combining technology and human assistance means brokers and borrowers alike are given the tools they need to find the best possible deal as quickly as possible, with expert support in place throughout the process to ensure that deals complete in a timely manner. Think of us as a transparent right-hand-man to streamline deals.

It all comes down to understanding a broker’s priorities and the importance of providing the best possible experience to clients. Speed alone will never cut it when it comes to bridging loans - it’s about the combination of quality and speed of service that means that clients are more likely to return to the broker, year after year, for all of their financial needs.