Specialist finance directors report record pipelines as borrowers seek alternatives to mainstream lending
While industry data shows the UK bridging market pulled back in the first quarter of 2026, at least one specialist broker is reporting the opposite experience – and points to a structural dynamic that has long defined the sector.
Luke Egan, director of bridging and development at Truffle Specialist Finance, told Mortgage Introducer his team is on course for its strongest year on record, driven in part by the same economic uncertainty that has given other parts of the market pause.
New figures from the Bridging & Development Lenders Association (BDLA) show completions across the sector totalled £1.8 billion in Q1 2026, down from £2.5 billion in Q4 2025.
"We've seen quite the opposite, especially towards the end of the quarter," Egan said, when asked about the Q1 slowdown. "Things got busy from the end of February until now. We're busier than we've ever been, is the long story short."
The BDLA's quarterly lending data survey – compiled by independent auditors using submissions from lender members – also recorded a fall in applications to £9.9 billion from £11.7 billion in the previous quarter, while total lender loan books stood at £11.5 billion, compared with £13.4 billion at the end of 2025. Average loan-to-value (LTV) ratios eased to 56.64% from 58.64% in Q4 2025. The figures mark a significant shift from Q1 2025, when completions stood at £2.8 billion.
Uncertainty as a driver
Egan's explanation for the divergence cuts to a longstanding characteristic of the specialist lending sector. When mainstream lending tightens, borrowers who still need to move look elsewhere, and bridging has consistently been the beneficiary.
"Bridging exists very much in an alternative market," he said. "Whenever there's anything that upsets the apple cart in the mainstream, people look for alternatives."
Egan pointed to geopolitical turbulence and recent instability among some bridging lenders as factors that had weighed on sentiment, but he argued for well-established brokers, the net effect had been positive. "With uncertainty comes opportunity," he said.
It is a pattern Egan has observed across multiple economic cycles. "We've been through banking crises, referendums, new governments, very temporary governments, multiple global conflicts. In those periods, the bigger bridging lenders and brokers will tend to flourish because people still want to do things. They look for an alternative way of getting from A to B."
Specialisation as a competitive edge
Beyond market conditions, Egan attributes Truffle's growth trajectory to an internal focus on specialisation. His team concentrates solely on bridging, commercial, and development finance, while a separate arm of the business handles residential mortgages and second charges – a structure he believes allows for greater depth on complex cases.
"We specialise in bridging, so we have the ability to really get into the skin of deals and the time to deal with complex cases," he said. "We've also made some changes to how we do things and our processes, and I think they've really complemented each other."
The combination of external demand and internal improvements has put the business in a position Egan describes as its strongest yet. While the past two years were both solid, he is targeting even better results this time around.
"We're on target across the board to surpass both of the last two years comfortably," he said.
Rates, crowding, and the legal process
Looking at the wider market, Egan is broadly positive, but he identified two areas of friction. The first is the legal process, specifically the time and complexity involved in conveyancing, which he said can hold back transactions, even if individual solicitors are not to blame.
"The legal process can take a long time, but that's in no way down to individual solicitors in a lot of cases," he said. "Sometimes the vendors don't have the right representation, or everyone's desires are not aligned, so it can often cause frustration."
Products that allow lenders to handle much of this process internally, such as remortgaging against already-owned property, offer a partial workaround, he added.
The second is market crowding. Egan noted the bridging sector, despite some lender exits in recent months, remains heavily populated with firms offering similar products. Whether further consolidation follows remains to be seen.
"It's an excellent market at the moment," he said. "We've got some really good lenders, some really good rates. They've just dropped to the lowest I've seen in a long, long time, and we’ve got access to a lot of products that aren't on the shelves. For the sake of a phone call, it could be something that we help a client on."
Want to be regularly updated with mortgage news and features? Get exclusive interviews, breaking news, and industry events in your inbox – subscribe to our FREE daily newsletter. You can also follow us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn.
