Bristol-headquartered Black & White Bridging has completed a bridging case in eight days, ahead of client stipulation of 10 days, and has called on the industry to redefine what a “fast” bridging loan is.
Black & White Bridging, formerly known as Bath & West Finance, completed the 75 per cent loan to value (LTV) funding on a leasehold flat in eight days.
The request was brought to the lender by Magnus Duke Dadzie of ABCD Capital Funding & Finance and the client needed the loan completed in 10 working days.
According to the lender, the initial underwriting had been completed but the deal was at risk of delay as the original valuer was unable to undertake the instruction, meaning a second valuer had to be brought on.
Black & White’s commercial director Damien Druce (pictured) said the case marked a “fast completion in the real world” as the lender came through with what the customer needed.
He said: “My definition of a ‘fast’ bridging loan is one that meets or exceeds the client’s expectations regardless of time taken and I hope that by illustrating this case, it might go a little way to balance stories of highlighted cases that infer that bridging deals are done in what seems the time it takes to make a cup of coffee. In reality, they are few and far between.”
Druce added: “The sector does itself no favours by peddling the idea that bridging loans provide ‘immediate’ funding.
“If we continue to overpromise by trumpeting about the few cases where the stars align and everything falls right into place, we are just setting ourselves up for brokers and their clients to have overly unrealistic expectations about what we can offer.”
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.