Central London Development Bridging Finance

The sponsor's existing bridge facility was due to mature before the senior development finance intended to replace it was ready to complete. The underlying redevelopment was progressing, but the mismatch between the two funding timelines created a short-term refinancing requirement that needed to be resolved without disrupting the scheme.

The project involved the redevelopment of a substantial period townhouse and adjoining site into a small collection of high-specification apartments in prime central London.

Planning consents were already in place, contractor tenders were available and a senior development lender had issued terms for the next phase. The issue was therefore not the absence of a longer-term funding strategy, but the timing gap before that finance could be drawn. Bridging finance is regularly used for precisely this type of transitional requirement. Enness's development bridging guidance identifies refinancing and gaps between funding stages as situations in which developers may use short-term bridging finance. The wider bridging market remains active. Bridging Trends data reported by Enness in August 2026 showed £173.1 million of gross contributor lending in Q2 2026.

Enness structured a new senior bridge facility designed to redeem the maturing loan in full and provide sufficient time for the proposed senior development facility to progress. The structure took account of the value of the underlying asset, existing debt and sponsor equity behind the new facility. The term was aligned with the anticipated completion of the senior development finance rather than creating another short refinancing window for the sponsor. That exit was particularly important. Bridging finance is short-term borrowing, and lenders generally require a clear and credible route to repayment. Refinancing onto longer-term finance can form that exit where the proposed facility and borrower meet the subsequent lender's requirements. Enness works with real estate developers across senior debt, development finance and bridging structures, allowing different stages of a project's capital requirements to be considered together. All terms remain subject to status, valuation, lender credit approval and legal due diligence.

The new bridge was structured to give the sponsor the additional time required for the senior development facility to progress, while refinancing the existing facility that was approaching maturity. This allowed the financing strategy to remain aligned with the underlying redevelopment rather than forcing the sponsor to resolve both an expiring bridge and the longer-term development facility simultaneously. For more on this type of transitional finance, Enness's property development bridging page covers refinancing existing developments and bridging gaps between funding stages.

“The challenge here wasn't finding the long-term capital. It was making sure the existing finance and the next facility joined up, without the funding timetable disrupting the development itself.”

-       Toby Johncox, Group Managing Director, Enness Global