How has the Coronavirus affected bridging finance?
Some bridging lenders have stopped lending
A number of bridging lenders have stopped providing bridging loans during the current Coronavirus pandemic. Many lenders have announced that they are temporarily stopping all new lending or restricting the size and types of loan that they offer.
Some current lending applications have been cancelled
Some lenders have cancelled on-going applications and have even pulled current offers where contracts have not been exchanged. In some cases lenders are requiring customers to start the application process again from scratch.
Those still lending have reduced loan to values and loan sizes
Those lenders who are still offering bridging finance are being very cautious and have taken actions such as reducing their maximum loan sizes. Maximum gross loan to values (LTVs) are down from 80% to around 60 to 65%.