Uses of short term funding vehicles such as bridging finance have grown significantly over the years, providing entrepreneurial investors with the opportunity to purchase anything from buy to lets to commercial investment or refurbished property to land. 

While bridging finance should never be seen as just a quick fix, speed is undoubtedly an important factor in many cases. There are a number of situations where both the broker and lender need to work extremely quickly to be able to secure the necessary funding for the client. 

Take, for example, a client whose lender has let him/her down at the last minute, an auction purchase for refurbishment or sale, or a business owner who has a large tax bill to clear quickly. Without a fast, responsive lender and broker working to arrange the bridge, all of these deals could come unstuck. 

In such a situation, it is important that both parties are in a position to gather all of the necessary and relevant information about the client and their case to ensure the bridge can be completed quickly and efficiently. 

It could be easy to assume that by simply providing masses of information, a case can be completed quickly, but providing incomplete, unnecessary or, even worse, incorrect information can delay the process. 

Taking a step back, its important to highlight that there are other factors that should be considered before going ahead with a bridge. The bridge needs to be the most appropriate product for the client and their situation. They need to be able to afford the loan and sustain the monthly payments. Ultimately, with any bridge, there needs to be a clear and planned exit strategy. 

There is still plenty of scope for bridging at the moment, giving brokers opportunity to secure more business, but only if they work with lenders who can fund a client’s needs in the timescales required.