How bridging works at this desk
Bridging Loan Process Sussex
Enquiry, triage, indicative terms, packaging, valuation, completion. The realistic Sussex bridging timeline runs 10 to 21 days, faster where title insurance and a streamlined valuation are available on standard BN, RH, PO and TN postcode security.
The six steps
Every Sussex bridging case follows the same six-step process. The names rarely change; the durations vary with the security, the exit, the valuation availability and the legal teams on both sides. What follows is the working timeline we plan around, not the rushed best-case timeline you read on lender brochures. Where a step typically runs faster or slower than the network average for Sussex cases, we say so. Auction stock from Clive Emson and Auction House South East, refurb cases on Brighton BN2 conversion stock, holiday-let bridges on the Rye and East Sussex coast, chain-break work across the Lewes and Chichester premium belt, and dev-exit refinance on the Gatwick fringe each tilt the timeline slightly. The framework below applies to all of them.
Step 01
Enquiry and first triage call
Typical timing: Same day to 24 hours
You send us a short summary of the deal. Loan size, security property, purchase price or open-market value, intended exit, and how long the bridge needs to run. We come back inside the working day with a quick triage call. The call is short. We are checking whether the case is fundable, which two or three lenders on the panel are the obvious starting point, and what indicative monthly rate band and LTV are realistic.
If the case has a clock on it, auction completion at 28 days or a chain-break exchange already dated, the triage call also nails down which lenders can hit that completion window and which cannot. Cases below the lender panel's appetite get a polite no and, where useful, a steer toward a different funding route. We would rather decline the case in the first hour than waste a week. Sussex-specific triage flags include any cladding history on Brighton seafront blocks, Article 4 HMO restrictions in BN1 and BN3, listed-building or conservation overlays in Lewes, Rye, Arundel and Chichester, and coastal-erosion notes on East Sussex coast stock.
Step 02
Indicative terms from the lender panel
Typical timing: 24 to 72 hours from triage
Once the triage confirms the case is fundable, we pitch it to the two or three most appropriate lenders from the panel. Each lender returns indicative terms covering monthly rate, arrangement fee, LTV, term, exit conditions and any case-specific stipulations. Most lenders turn this around inside 48 working hours; the speed-led specialists often respond same-day if the case is clean.
We line the offers up side by side and walk you through the differences. Cheapest rate is not always the right answer. A 0.05% per month difference is worth nothing if the cheaper lender's valuer cannot get to the property for a fortnight or the cheaper lender's legal team is slow. We pick the lender most likely to actually complete on your timeline. You sign the indicative terms and pay any commitment fee the lender requires. For Sussex stock the valuer-availability question matters most around Rye, Battle, Midhurst and the more rural East Sussex postcodes where panel valuer coverage is thinner; Brighton, Crawley and Chichester valuer coverage is dense.
Step 03
Full lender packaging
Typical timing: 2 to 5 working days
With indicative terms signed, we move to full packaging. The lender wants the full application form, ID, proof of address, evidence of source of funds for the deposit, a business plan for the property, a credible exit plan with supporting evidence, and a complete schedule of any other property security on the balance sheet. For limited company borrowers we also pull last filed accounts, latest management accounts where helpful, and the company structure.
On refurbishment cases we add the schedule of works, the contractor's quotation, planning consents where relevant and the projected gross development value with comparable evidence. On auction cases we add the legal pack the morning after the hammer falls. On Brighton and Hove conversion stock we add freeholder consent details and any service-charge dispute history. On Sussex holiday-let bridges we add the AST or holiday-let income evidence and the marketing plan. The faster you turn around document requests at this stage, the faster the case clears underwriting. The pinch point is almost always documents, not lender appetite.
Step 04
Valuation and underwriter review
Typical timing: 5 to 10 working days
The lender instructs a valuation on the security property. Standard RICS valuation timing across Sussex is 5 to 10 working days from instruction, depending on which firm the lender uses and how busy the panel valuer is in your postcode area. Tight cases use a streamlined valuation or a desktop where the lender permits it; speed-led specialists sometimes turn around an inspection within 48 hours of instruction on standard residential security in BN, RH and the major PO and TN postcodes.
While the valuation is in flight, the lender's underwriter reviews the packaged file. They might come back with questions on the exit, the works schedule, the borrower's experience, or any historic credit events. We act as the single point of contact, batching the questions and getting clean answers back to underwriting quickly. Once the valuation lands and underwriting is satisfied, the lender issues a formal loan offer. On premium Lewes, Haywards Heath and Chichester chain-break cases the underwriter often wants supporting marketing evidence on the outgoing property; on dev-exit cases at Gatwick fringe schemes they want updated unit-by-unit comparable evidence rather than a single GDV number.
Step 05
Legals on both sides
Typical timing: 5 to 14 working days, in parallel
Loan offer in hand, both sides instruct solicitors. The lender appoints panel solicitors who handle the lender's legal work. You appoint your own solicitor to act for you. Both are borrower-paid; typical legal fees run £1,500 to £4,000 per side depending on the complexity of the security and any auction or chain-break overlay. Where the borrower's solicitor is already familiar with bridging completions the file moves faster; where they are not, expect questions back and forth on the lender's facility letter.
Legals run in parallel with the underwriter signing off the final conditions. Searches, title checks, planning enquiries on refurb cases, freeholder consent on leasehold security, conservation-area or listed-building searches on Lewes, Rye, Arundel and the South Downs villages, and any guarantee or security on other property all clear here. For very tight auction completions we sometimes use title insurance and a streamlined search to compress legals into 5 to 7 working days. Most Sussex cases settle into a 10 to 14 day legal phase. Brighton and Hove leasehold flats with short leases or contested service charges occasionally push to 21 days at the legal step.
Step 06
Drawdown and completion
Typical timing: 1 to 3 working days from cleared legals
With legals reported clean and the lender's conditions satisfied, funds release to the borrower's solicitor and the transaction completes. On a purchase that means simultaneous exchange and completion against the seller's solicitor. On a refinance or capital raise it means redemption of the existing charge and the net funds landing in the borrower's account. We stay on the file through to confirmation that funds have hit and the lender's charge is registered at Land Registry.
For most Sussex bridging cases the full timeline from first triage to completed funds runs 10 to 21 working days. Auction cases compressed to a 14-day completion are achievable where the property is straightforward residential security in BN, RH, PO or TN postcodes, the valuer is responsive, and both solicitors are bridging-literate. Heavy refurbishment cases on Brighton BN2 HMO conversions or large mixed-use refurbishments on Worthing and Hastings seafront stock with multiple security properties run longer at the front end because packaging the file takes longer; once packaged they complete at the same pace as standard cases.
After completion
After completion, the loan runs.
Monthly interest is typically rolled or retained, not serviced. Rolled interest means the interest compounds onto the balance month by month and is repaid at exit. Retained interest means the lender deducts the full term's interest from the day-one drawdown and lends you the net. Serviced interest, where the borrower pays interest monthly from cash flow, is available on some products but uncommon on standard bridges. The monthly rate is always quoted as a monthly figure, never as an annual percentage rate.
We stay in touch during the term. On refurbishment cases we touch in midway to check progress against the works schedule, because lenders increasingly want a draw-down structure with stage releases. On dev exit cases we line up the refinance lender 60 to 90 days before the bridge term ends. On sale-exit cases we coordinate with the selling agent on offer progression, particularly across the premium Lewes, Haywards Heath, Horsham and Chichester chain-break book where the outgoing property sale can move faster or slower than the lender modelled. On holiday-let cases we make sure the holiday-let income evidence is up to date for the term refinance lender at exit. The bridging facility is the start of the relationship, not the end of it.
Next step
Send us the deal. We'll triage inside the working day.
Indicative lender terms inside 24 hours. Standard Sussex bridging completion 10 to 21 days; auction completions inside 14 where the title and valuation cooperate.