The borrower wanted to complete the purchase of the property in abroad before selling their home in West London.

They had already paid a deposit for the purchase and had six weeks in which to complete.

The borrower wanted to raise enough money to buy the property in Cyprus and consolidate some existing debt, ran up by improvement works to their home.

Through consolidating the existing debt into a bridging loan, the customer could improve their cash flow and settle all other outstanding debts before leaving the country.

The customer intended to move abroad as soon as possible and would eventually exit the bridging loan when the security property in London was vacated and sold.

•   The Finance Professional Show 2024: The Video
•   UTB and Warburg Pincus complete minority investment transaction
•   UTB appoints new head of credit of asset finance

The London property passed an AVM at £702,000, saving the customer a valuation fee, and was subject to a small first charge mortgage so there was plenty of equity in the property, placing the second charge bridge at just over 40% LTV.

Permission was obtained from the first charge mortgage lender, and the loan drawn in time for the customer to complete their purchase.

Gary Lomax, key account manager for bridging, at UTB (pictured above), commented: “Bridging loans are typically solutions to property finance problems.

Our customer wanted to complete the purchase of their retirement home in the sun, but all their money was tied up in equity in their UK home.

“They had an existing mortgage, sizeable unsecured debts and didn’t have the income to support a large remortgage or second charge mortgage.

"In these circumstances a second charge regulated bridging loan was an excellent and quick solution to their short-term funding problem.”