Chain-break bridging finance
Chain-Break Bridging Loans Brighton
Owner-occupier bridging when your existing sale collapses or your buyer pulls out. Complete the onward purchase, then sell the old home on a sensible timeline.
- Decisions in hours
- Completion in days
- £100k to £25m
- East Sussex specialists
About chain-break bridging
Short-term property finance across the Brighton and Hove urban area and East Sussex.
Chain-break bridging is the regulated bridge that owner-occupier homebuyers use when their existing sale falls through, slips, or never materialises in time. The product secures the onward purchase, releases the buyer from the impossible position of losing the new home while their old one fails to sell, and gives the existing property a sensible window to sell on its own merits. For Brighton buyers who have already committed emotionally and financially to the next home, chain-break bridging is often the difference between completing and walking away.
Chain-break bridging suits owner-occupiers in Brighton and Hove and across the East Sussex commuter zone who are buying an onward home and have an existing residence either on the market, under offer, or with a collapsed buyer. Typical cases include retired couples downsizing from a four-bed in Withdean to a townhouse in The Lanes, growing families moving from a two-bed flat in Brighton Marina to a three-bed semi in Patcham, and homeowners whose related buyer in a wider East Sussex chain has lost their funding. Because the security is owner-occupied residential property, chain-break bridging is FCA-regulated. We introduce regulated cases to authorised partner firms; we do not provide regulated advice.
A typical case
How a chain-break bridging case runs in Brighton.
A family in Preston Park accept an offer of £475,000 on their existing three-bed semi from a first-time buyer, with a planned move to a four-bed Edwardian in Patcham at £640,000. Three weeks before exchange, the first-time buyer's employment changes and their mortgage offer is withdrawn. The Patcham seller has another offer behind ours and will not wait. The family have around £210,000 of equity in the Preston Park property after the existing mortgage. We package a chain-break bridge at 65% loan to value against the Patcham purchase, total £416,000. The bridge sits on a 9-month term with rolled-up interest, at 0.65% per month. Indicative terms back in 24 hours, full underwriting in 5 working days, completion 12 working days after instruction. The family move into the Patcham home, the Preston Park property goes back on the market with the same agent, and a new buyer is found inside 8 weeks. The Preston Park sale completes 4 months after the bridge drawdown; the bridge redeems with 5 months of headroom on the term. Similar mechanics work for chain breaks across the Brighton and Hove urban area, Hove, Kemptown and Seven Dials whenever residential chains in the East Sussex commuter belt break under pressure.
Rates and fees
What this product costs.
Chain-break bridging prices between 0.55% and 0.85% per month for clean owner-occupier cases with a sold or marketed existing residence. Cases with a sold subject-to-contract sale on the existing property, modest loan to value, and a clean credit file price at the lower end of that band. Cases where the existing property is not yet marketed price higher because the exit is less certain. Arrangement fees run 1.5% to 2.0% of the loan, typically added to the facility. Valuation fees on residential security usually £400 to £900. Borrower and lender legal fees of £1,500 to £3,000 per side. No exit fee on most regulated bridging products.
Loan size and term
LTV ceiling and how long you borrow for.
Chain-break bridging typically tops out at 70% loan to value against the onward purchase, with most cases settling at 65%. Day-one loan to purchase can be calibrated to leave the borrower's equity contribution at a sensible level. Terms run 1 to 12 months for FCA-regulated bridging work. Most Brighton chain-break clients use a 6 to 9-month facility, sized to give the existing property a realistic window to sell without paying for time you do not need.
Exit options
How the loan redeems.
Chain-break bridging has two main exit routes. The first is the sale of the existing residence to a replacement buyer. The bridge redeems out of the sale proceeds when the existing home completes. The second, used in a smaller proportion of cases, is refinance onto a long-term residential mortgage where the borrower decides to keep the existing home, perhaps for an adult child or as a let. Lenders want a credible sale strategy at the point of drawdown: agent appointed, property marketed, asking price in line with comparable sales in the relevant East Sussex postcode, and ideally an offer in the system.
What makes a deal work
The clean cases.
Chain-break cases run cleanly when the existing property is realistically priced, the borrower has clean income and credit, the onward purchase represents a sensible step up or down, and the residual equity supports the loan to value sensibly. A retired couple downsizing in Brighton with a Withdean four-bed already marketed at a sensible asking price, no consumer debt, and a clear residual equity profile is the textbook clean chain-break case. Cases also strengthen where both the existing property and the onward purchase are in mainstream Brighton postcodes, freehold houses rather than leasehold flats with short leases, and conventional construction.
What doesn't
Where cases break.
Cases break where the existing property is overpriced and unlikely to sell in the window, where the borrower has unresolved credit issues, where the residual equity is too thin to support the bridge sensibly, or where the onward purchase is so far above the existing property's value that the maths require a near-perfect onward refinance to make sense. We will not progress a chain-break case where the exit looks forced.
Our process
From first call to drawdown.
Step one, a triage call. Bring the existing property, the onward purchase, the residual equity, and the chain history. Step two, we package the case and route it to an authorised partner firm for the regulated activity, with terms put to two regulated lenders on our panel. Step three, indicative terms back inside 24 hours. Step four, valuations instructed on both properties in parallel with legals. Step five, full credit at the lender, typically 3 to 5 working days. Step six, drawdown, with funds released to the borrower's solicitor in line with the onward purchase. Standard timeline from triage to completion is 10 to 14 working days. Regulated bridging on owner-occupied residential property is FCA-regulated. We are not directly authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority and introduce regulated work to authorised partner firms; we do not give regulated advice.
Talk to us
Tell us about the deal.
A quick triage call, then indicative lender terms inside 24 hours. We work Brighton and across East Sussex.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions on chain-break bridging
Can I take chain-break bridging if my buyer has not yet pulled out?
+
Yes. Chain-break bridging is often arranged proactively, before the buyer formally withdraws, where the chain looks fragile and the onward seller is unwilling to wait. Pre-emptive bridging gives you the option to complete on the onward purchase regardless of whether the buyer holds. It is cheaper to set the bridge up and not draw it than to scramble after the buyer withdraws.
Will chain-break bridging affect my onward residential mortgage?
+
Not directly. The chain-break bridge is a short-term facility that sits between your existing equity and the onward purchase. Your long-term residential mortgage on the onward home, if you are taking one, completes alongside the bridge or replaces it at the point your existing property sells. The bridge does not normally appear as a continuing liability on your mortgage application because it is expected to redeem from the existing sale.
What happens if the existing Brighton property does not sell in the bridge term?
+
Most chain-break bridges include an extension option, typically up to 3 or 6 additional months at the original monthly rate plus a small extension fee. Where the existing property has not sold by the back end of the original term, the priority is to review pricing and marketing strategy with the agent, not to assume the bridge can run indefinitely. We work with borrowers proactively from month 6 onwards to make sure the exit is on track.
Next step
Talk to a Brighton bridging specialist about chain-break bridging.
Indicative terms in 24 hours. We work chain-break bridging cases across Brighton and the wider East Sussex market on a same-day enquiry response.