Second charge bridging: raise capital, keep the mortgage you like

Equity in a property, a first charge you don't want to disturb — a cheap fixed rate, or early repayment charges that make refinancing absurd — and a short-term need for capital. That is exactly the situation a second charge bridge exists for.

What it is

A bridging loan secured by a second legal charge: it sits behind your existing mortgage, which stays exactly as it is. The second charge lender is repaid after the first if things go wrong, which is why second charge money costs more than first charge money — you are paying to leave a good first mortgage untouched. Whether that premium is worth it is a sum, not a slogan, and we run it with you before anything is recommended: cost of the second charge for its term versus the true cost of refinancing the whole debt, early repayment charges included. Sometimes the refinance wins. We will tell you when it does.

When it earns its keep

• A deposit for the next purchase — releasing equity from premises or investment property you own to secure the next one, repaid when longer-term funding or a sale completes.
• A tax liability with a date on it — corporation tax or VAT falling due ahead of cash landing; cheaper and cleaner than informal arrangements, provided the incoming cash is real.
• A time-limited opportunity — stock, a contract, an asset at the right price — where the return clearly beats the cost of short money.
• Works to a property you own, exiting to a refinance on the improved value — see also how bridging works.
• A funding gap in a transaction — completing a purchase or buyout while another asset sells.

What decides whether it's fundable

Three things. Combined loan-to-value: the first charge balance plus the new bridge, against the property's value — lenders generally want the total comfortably inside 70–75% for commercial security. The exit: as with all bridging, a specific, evidenced repayment route — the sale, the refinance, the receivable — not an intention. The first lender: most first charges require the lender's consent to a second charge behind them; some consent readily, some slowly, a few not at all. We establish the consent position early, because it sets the realistic timetable.

What it costs

Monthly interest above first-charge pricing, an arrangement fee, valuation and legals — the standard bridging anatomy, priced for the junior position. The honest comparison is never "second charge versus doing nothing"; it is second charge versus refinancing everything, versus unsecured borrowing, versus not doing the thing at all. We put those side by side in writing. And the standing rule applies here with particular force: if the underlying need is long-term capital, a bridge — first or second charge — is the wrong instrument, and we will say so rather than arrange it.

Unregulated commercial lending only

We arrange second charge bridging for limited companies, secured on commercial and investment property. Lending secured on a home you or your family occupy is regulated consumer territory, which we do not advise on or arrange.