Bridging completions fell to £1.6 billion in Q2 as lenders weigh repayment routes
Specialist lender TAB has provided a £2 million bridging loan to refinance two commercial properties in London’s Docklands. The deal shows how short-term finance is being used to clear an existing lender and buy time for a longer-term refinance, at a point when bridging lenders are looking harder at how borrowers will repay.
The 12-month first charge facility is secured on two commercial properties on Selsdon Way, alongside Millwall Docks on the Isle of Dogs. The properties have a combined value of £3.025 million, giving a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 66%.
Both are let to a language school and generate combined rental income of £230,000 a year. The loan followed the borrowers’ purchase of the freehold. It repaid existing charges held by a Turkish commercial bank, simplified the security structure and released more than £130,000 in working capital for the borrowers’ wider business.
The borrowers plan to keep letting to the language school while pursuing further lettings, which TAB said will support their longer-term refinancing plans. An exit is already in place with a UK-based specialist bank, which will increase its facility once further leases are signed.
“The security, ownership structure and refinance all needed to work together on this transaction. We understood what the borrowers needed to achieve and structured the bridge around that plan,” Sophie Meller, senior business development manager for London at TAB, said.
“The facility cleared the existing lender, simplified the borrower’s position and released working capital while giving the borrower time to progress a longer-term refinance.”
Mark Sharpe, director of commercial finance broker NUCO Funding Solutions, who introduced the deal, said: “TAB understood the structure and the wider requirements of the transaction from the outset. The borrowers needed a facility that could deal with the existing lender, the recently acquired freehold interests and the additional working capital requirement.”
A quieter market puts exits in focus
The completion arrives in a softer bridging market. Bridging and development completions fell to £1.6 billion in the second quarter of 2026 from £2.3 billion a year earlier, according to the Bridging & Development Lenders Association (BDLA). The association said slower house sales are prompting lenders to look more closely at how and when borrowers will repay.
The same report said gross lending among Bridging Trends contributors fell 15% to £173.1 million in the quarter, partly because borrowers delayed deals expecting the conflict in Iran to be brief. In the Interpath and BDLA survey published in June, 35% of respondents forecast origination growth, down from 75% previously.
For advisers whose clients use bridging, the Docklands case shows a repayment route arranged in advance. Here, the exit lender’s larger facility depends on further leases being signed.
TAB’s funding
TAB provides commercial mortgages, bridging finance and property investment opportunities. Founded in 2018 by Duncan Kreeger, it has lent a total of £850 million. In September, it announced a £200 million funding line from a challenger bank. TAB did not name the bank in its announcement, but trade coverage identified GB Bank, and Kreeger named it on LinkedIn.
The facility is TAB’s third funding line. It sits alongside an institutional facility from AB CarVal, announced in September 2025, and funds raised from high-net-worth private investors. TAB said the new line will support its commercial mortgage and bridging products and help it lend to more brokers’ clients.
TAB’s underwriting for the Docklands deal was carried out by senior underwriter Justice Marima. The Autumn Budget is due on 28 October.
