Case Study: £5.6m UK Industrial Warehouse Bridging Loan

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Transaction: £5.6 million bridging loan 

Asset: Industrial warehouse 

Location: United Kingdom 

Borrower: Overseas investor 

LTV: 65% 

Time to completion: 8 days from instruction 

Personal guarantee: Not required

An overseas investor required fast bridging finance to complete the acquisition of a UK industrial warehouse. The asset was an income-producing logistics and warehousing facility representing a straightforward addition to the investor's existing UK commercial property portfolio. The investor had a defined and immovable acquisition timeline. A previous financing route had fallen through at a late stage, leaving a tight window to complete or risk losing the asset entirely.

The combination of requirements the investor needed, speed, no personal guarantee, and an overseas borrower profile, is one that most mainstream bridging lenders struggle to accommodate simultaneously, and which many cannot accommodate at all.

Speed is achievable for standard UK residential transactions but commercial assets involve additional due diligence that typically extends timelines. No personal guarantee is achievable for well-capitalised borrowers with strong assets, but many lenders apply it as a default condition regardless of the underlying strength of the transaction. Overseas borrowers add compliance and AML requirements that slow most lenders' processes considerably. The combination of all three requirements, on a commercial asset, within a tight and non-negotiable timeline, required a lender with specific commercial property experience, efficient international borrower onboarding, and the willingness to commit quickly on a well-structured transaction.

Bridging Europe assessed the transaction immediately on instruction. The asset was well-located and income-producing, and the LTV requested was conservative at 65%, which meant the transaction had a strong underlying credit case that the right lender would be able to approve quickly. We identified two lenders within our network with the specific combination of commercial property appetite, international borrower capability, and operational speed required. We prepared a concise and well-structured credit pack covering the asset, the income profile, the borrower's balance sheet, the LTV analysis, and the exit strategy, and approached both lenders simultaneously.

Terms were received within 24 hours. We negotiated the personal guarantee requirement out of the facility on the basis of the asset quality and the borrower's balance sheet, and managed the legal and due diligence process actively from that point to ensure nothing caused unnecessary delay.

The £5.6 million bridging loan completed 8 days from instruction, at 65% LTV, with no personal guarantee required. The investor completed the acquisition on time and the asset was secured. The exit, a refinance onto a longer-term investment facility, was agreed with a separate lender in parallel and completed within the bridging term.

This transaction demonstrates Bridging Europe's ability to deliver fast bridging finance for overseas investors on UK commercial property, our access to lenders capable of moving quickly on commercial assets without requiring personal guarantees, and the active transaction management that compresses timelines without compromising the quality of the credit process. For international investors acquiring UK commercial property, the combination of overseas borrower profile and commercial asset is precisely where the standard market performs poorly and where the quality of the advisor makes the difference between a transaction that closes and one that does not.