Unregulated bridging finance
Unregulated Bridging Loans Plymouth
Investment, BTL and commercial bridges across Plymouth and the wider Devon investor market. Decisions in hours, drawdown in days.
- Decisions in hours
- Completion in days
- £100k to £25m
- Devon specialists
Plymouth · Devon
Bridge to your next move.
About unregulated bridging
Short-term property finance across Portsea Island and Hampshire.
Unregulated bridging is the network's core book. The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate bridging where the security is investment property, commercial premises, buy-to-let or a refurbishment project, because the borrower is treated as a sophisticated party rather than a consumer. That regime gives the lender and broker room to move at speed. For landlords and property investors operating in the port city of Plymouth and across the wider Devon investor market, unregulated bridging is the product that pays for the next deal before the last one has stabilised. Specialist lenders such as Octane Capital, Together and LendInvest sit at the heart of this book.
Unregulated bridging fits property investors, small developers, established landlords, and limited companies holding property for income or capital appreciation. Typical borrowers in this market run portfolios of 3 to 30 BTL units across Mutley, Greenbank, North Hill, St Judes and the surrounding student-and-professional belt, or buy at auction with a refurbishment plan and a refinance route. It also suits owner-managed businesses raising short-term capital against premises near HMNB Devonport, Princess Yachts at Coxside, or the Estover Industrial Estate. The product is wrong for owner-occupier residential bridging, which sits under the FCA-regulated regime and goes via our regulated route instead.
A typical case
How a unregulated bridging case runs in Plymouth.
A limited company landlord with 14 BTL units across Mutley, Greenbank and Lipson spots an HMO opportunity in North Hill: an end-of-terrace freehold close to the University of Plymouth campus, vendor motivated, asking £375,000 against a likely £450,000 fully refurbished and licensed. The deal needs to complete in 6 weeks or the vendor walks. The landlord has equity in the existing portfolio but no liquid cash for the deposit and works. We package an unregulated bridge against the North Hill property at 70% of purchase price, with a separate facility releasing additional funds against an unencumbered terrace in Peverell. Total facility £360,000 across two charges. Term 12 months, serviced interest, exit to a portfolio BTL refinance with one of the specialist BTL lenders. Indicative terms back in 24 hours, valuation in 8 working days, completion 14 working days after instruction. The borrower completes inside the vendor's window, runs the HMO conversion over 4 months under the local licensing scheme, lets the rooms to a mix of postgraduates and naval contractors, and refinances out at month 9. The bridge redeems on schedule. This pattern repeats weekly across the inner-city belt and into the Plymstock, Plympton and Crownhill sub-markets where landlord stock turns over consistently.
Rates and fees
What this product costs.
Unregulated bridging in the current Devon market prices between 0.65% and 1.25% per month. Standard investment cases on freehold residential security at 65% loan to value, with a clear refinance exit and a borrower track record, sit at the lower end of that band. Higher loan to value, shorter track record, less liquid security or weaker exit pushes the rate up. Heavy refurbishment and conversion work generally prices above 1.0% per month. The arrangement fee runs 1.5% to 2.0% of the loan, added to the facility. Valuation fees vary by property type: a standard terrace in PL4 might cost £550, a commercial mixed-use block in PL1 closer to £2,500. Legal fees both sides are borrower-paid, typically £1,500 to £4,000 per side. Most unregulated products carry no exit fee. We never quote a case as fee-free.
Loan size and term
LTV ceiling and how long you borrow for.
Maximum loan to value on standard unregulated investment bridging is 75% against open market value, with most cases settling at 65% to 70%. Day-one loan to purchase can be higher where the property is materially below market value, often up to 85% of the purchase price if the open market valuation supports it. Terms run from 1 month to 24 months. Most clients use a 9 to 12-month facility for refurbishment and refinance, or a 3 to 6-month facility for straightforward purchase and resale.
Exit options
How the loan redeems.
Unregulated bridging has four main exit routes. First, refinance to a long-term BTL mortgage once the property is let and seasoned. Second, refinance to a commercial investment mortgage for mixed-use or pure commercial security. Third, sale on the open market, particularly where the borrower has refurbished and intends to flip. Fourth, sale of an associated asset such as another property in the portfolio. Lenders want a credible primary exit and a credible backup. A borrower whose only exit is a refinance with one named lender on contingent income looks weaker than a borrower with a refinance lined up plus a saleable backup property in Plympton or the Royal William Yard apartment market.
What makes a deal work
The clean cases.
Clean cases run on three things: realistic valuation, credible exit, and a borrower with a coherent track record. A landlord with 8 stabilised BTLs across PL4 and PL3, a 70% LTV against a Lipson terrace, and a portfolio refinance offer already on the table is the textbook clean case. Cases also strengthen where the security sits in a liquid Plymouth postcode with strong rental demand, where the construction is conventional, and where the borrower has skin in the game. Limited company SPV structures with clear shareholding work well; partnerships work less well unless the partners are joint borrowers and the partnership agreement is sensible.
What doesn't
Where cases break.
Cases fail where the borrower has no track record and no clear exit, where the property is in a thin or atypical micro-market, where construction is non-standard, or where the refurbishment scope is materially understated. Auction valuations that overshoot independent comparables also kill cases at the survey stage. We will not progress a case where the maths require everything to go right; we want headroom on the exit. Rural Devon properties sitting on the Dartmoor fringe sometimes need a more careful conversation about exit pool depth and lender appetite.
Our process
From first call to drawdown.
Step one, a 20-minute call with us. Bring the property, the deal, the equity, the exit, and the timeline. Step two, we package the case and put it to three or four lenders depending on the brief. Indicative terms back inside 24 hours. Step three, valuation instructed alongside legals. Step four, full credit at the lender, typically 3 to 5 working days. Step five, drawdown into the borrower's solicitor, with funds released on completion of the purchase or refinance. Standard timeline from triage to drawdown is 10 to 21 working days. Auction-driven cases compress that to 5 to 10 working days using title insurance and a streamlined valuation. Unregulated bridging on commercial and investment 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 Plymouth and across Devon.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions on unregulated bridging
What's the difference between regulated and unregulated bridging?
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Regulated bridging is FCA-supervised consumer lending against a home you or an immediate family member occupy. Unregulated bridging is non-consumer lending against investment, commercial or BTL property. The regulated regime is slower because of FCA process requirements; the unregulated regime is faster and more flexible because the borrower is treated as a sophisticated party. Most of our Plymouth investor clients sit in the unregulated regime.
Can I bridge a limited company purchase in Plymouth?
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Yes. Limited company SPV structures are standard on unregulated bridging across Devon. The lender takes a first charge against the property and a debenture against the company. Personal guarantees from the directors are standard, and we negotiate the cap on guarantees case by case. Most of our investor clients hold property through limited companies for tax efficiency, and lenders are well used to that structure.
Can unregulated bridging fund refurbishment works as well as the purchase?
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Yes. Most unregulated bridges include a works facility that draws down in stages against work completed and signed off by the lender's monitoring surveyor. For light refurb in Mutley or Greenbank, the works facility is often released in two or three tranches. For heavy refurb and conversion in the Barbican conservation area or HMO conversions in North Hill, expect a more structured drawdown over four or five stages.
Next step
Talk to a Plymouth bridging specialist about unregulated bridging.
Indicative terms in 24 hours. We work unregulated bridging cases across Plymouth and the wider Devon market on a same-day enquiry response.