Aspen enters bridge-to-let market after successful pilot

The range is available up to 80 per cent loan to value (LTV), and bridge rates start at 0.64 per cent per month. Bridge-to-let rates of 4.49 per cent per year apply.

It is open to UK and foreign applicants and has a maximum loan size of £10m. First-time buyers are also eligible.

Loan terms range from 18 months to two years and are split equally between the retained bridge initial period and the serviced bridge-to-let.

The lender said it is targeting several borrower types including those doing heavy and medium works on their properties, houses in multiple occupation (HMO) conversions and those looking for “unrushed development exits”.

For HMO conversions, 100 per cent works funding is available, and for “unrushed development exits” the lender is offering no bridge ERC and minimum interest.

The lender said borrowers have the flexibility to move to the cheaper bridge-to-let rate after the seventh month or to extend the bridge if needed, so the loan can “react to how long a works project takes to complete”.

Once on the service bridge-to-let, the borrower can either refinance on to longer-term buy-to-let rates or sell without heavy ERCs.

The lender said it aimed to reduce the amount of capital developers needed to hold upfront and remove the need for development exit bridging within the bridge-to-let period, so borrowers could sell or refinance.

Jack Coombs, director at Aspen Bridging, said: “Having launched bridge-to-let as a pilot from October last year we are very excited to now be launching to the whole broker community.

“We believe we are filling a true gap in the market here and we are confident our new product will make up to 50 per cent of our planned growth in 2022 and beyond.”

Aspen has been adjusting its range, recently adding a development exist and refurbishment product to its bridging offering. It is aimed at experienced developers with a clean credit history.