Interbridge

Interbridge launches new bridging product range




Interbridge has extended its new, revised bridging product range to the wider broker market, having soft launched the offering over the past two weeks.

The products, which are lent on CMV rather than 180 days, are split into two categories:

  • standard bridging (short and plex)
  • refurb bridging (refurb and refurb plex).

The ‘short’ and ‘refurb’ loans can be used for “no wrinkle”, standard deals that have a short term, and are available for residential properties.

The plex products are suitable for cases where there is a quirk, such as adverse credit, non-UK residency, or a complex structure, with additional basis points added to the rate structure to reflect such complexities.

Standard bridging plex and refurb bridging plex are available for residential, mixed-use, portfolios, and HMOs, with the latter also including Grade II-listed residential properties.

Thorsten Lamberty, director at Interbridge Financial Group, said that the lender had initially focused on the larger, complex space because, as a firm, it is comfortable with complexity and “not many lenders were present in this niche”.

During the course of 2019 and right up until the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, he believed the market was “getting into a bubble with plenty of lenders offering loans at rates where we were not comfortable to lend”.

“Now, half a year into the pandemic, we feel that common sense has returned to the bridging space and lending rates are recovering—there is much less risk appetite now.”

He said he was surprised at how many lenders have withdrawn from the market.

“Of course, we benefit from a less crowded marketplace, but bridging lenders are vital to the UK economy in these uncertain times.

“At Interbridge, from day one, our business model [has been] geared to market dislocation and non-conventional borrower risk.

“We passionately believe that now is the time to go out and bridge the gap to recovery for our customers and their advisers.”

The standard bridging short product offers loans between £250,000 and £3m, for terms of between one and three months.


Rates for the short product — which is available for UK residents and companies on a retained basis — start from 0.45% per month for up to 50% LTV and increase to 0.65% per month for up to 75% LTV.

The plex product —for foreign nationals, companies and credit-impaired borrowers, and offered either retained or serviced — starts from £100,000 to £5m, with loan terms between one and 24 months.

Rates start from a minimum of 0.50% per month up to 50% LTV and increase to a minimum of 0.70% per month up to 75% LTV.

The standard refurb product is designed for experienced developers, UK residents and companies with financing needs light refurb, commercial conversions and PDR, while the refurb plex is designed for lesser experienced developers, credit impaired applicants, foreign nationals, and companies, for light-to-heavy refurb, PDR, and commercial conversions.

Refurb plex will not cater for ground-up development.

Borrowers opting for the standard refurb loan can get £100,000 on day one, with a maximum loan of £3m, for terms between three and 12 months.

Rates — which are retained only — start from 0.50% per month for loans up to 50% LTV and increase to 0.70% per month up to 75% LTV.

The refurb plex product offers loans from £500,000 on day one, up to £5m, for terms between six and 24 months.

Rates start from a minimum of 0.55% per month for up to 50% LTV and increase to a minimum of 0.70% per month for loans up to 70% LTV.

Every product carries an embedded option of three months term prolongation at a higher rate, with no added extension fees.

“We want our borrowers to have the extra flex on the back-end of their loans, hassle free,” added Thorsten.

“Our experience gained on large, complex deals allows us to work every transaction fast and efficiently.

“The new products are extremely well perceived, and I’d say that that the market clearly is in tune with our approach.

“We have seen record numbers of enquiries, AIP to loan application conversion rates are up to 50%, our broker partners are keen to engage, and we are hiring new staff.

“This shows that we are on the right track."

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