Property type: Retail
Retail Property Bridging Loans Brighton
We arrange bridging finance against retail property across The Lanes, North Laine, Western Road, Churchill Square and the wider East Sussex high street. Loans run from £150,000 to £10 million, terms from 1 to 24 months, with completions in 7 to 21 days once the valuation and title cooperate. Most retail bridges in our book are unregulated and price in the 0.75 to 1.25% per month band, depending on LTV, vacancy and exit route.
- Decisions in hours
- Completion in days
- £100k to £25m
- East Sussex specialists
The asset class
What retail property looks like in East Sussex.
Retail in this part of East Sussex splits into three rough groups. There is the independent-led specialist stock in The Lanes (BN1) and North Laine (BN1), typically 400 to 1,500 sq ft with a flat or two above, trading on tourism and resident-led footfall. There is the higher-volume parade and shopping-centre stock along Western Road, Churchill Square and London Road, where rental tone is set by national multiples and the larger format units. And there is the suburban high-street stock in Hove BN3, Kemptown BN2 and around Preston Park, with neighbourhood convenience and food-led tenants. Each of these reads differently to a bridging lender, both on yield and on vacancy risk, and the underwriting approach changes with it.
Use cases
Bridging use cases for retail assets.
The retail bridging cases that close in this market sit in a fairly tight set. We see auction purchases of vacant or partly-let parades where the buyer plans a quick lease-up and refinance to term debt. We see purchases of investments coming out of receivership where speed of completion is the price of getting the deal at all. We see lease re-gear cases where a tenant is taking a 10-year lease in exchange for a rent-free period or a capital contribution, and the landlord wants a bridge to fund the works and the gap. We see change-of-use plays where retail with permitted-development or full planning into residential is bought on a bridge, converted, and exited to either BTL refinance or open-market sale. And we see capital raises against unencumbered retail held by long-term landlords who want a deposit for the next deal. Across these cases lenders care more about the exit than the asset narrative. A vague refinance plan, even on a clean property, kills more retail bridges than any building issue.
Brighton context
Retail Stock from The Lanes to the Brighton and Hove High Street
Brighton retail trades on a profile that very few South East towns can match. The Lanes and North Laine in BN1 carry a dense run of independent boutiques, jewellers, vintage and food-and-beverage tenants drawing 11 million annual visitors and a high resident spend; voids on the prime alleys clear quickly and tenant covenants skew small but loyal. Western Road and Churchill Square sit at the other end of the spectrum, with national multiples and larger format stock. London Road through Preston Circus carries a regenerating mid-market parade with growing food-led occupancy. Out into Hove, Church Road and George Street trade as neighbourhood high streets with strong daytime spend and a stable independent base. Kemptown along St James's Street holds an independent food-and-beverage cluster supported by year-round resident demand. Across East Sussex the retail picture varies; Lewes, Eastbourne, Hastings and the market towns trade on different curves with Lewes and Forest Row holding firmer than the larger seaside resorts. Bridging lenders read all of this. They price the prime Lanes independents and Western Road covenants softer, the secondary suburban parade harder, and the change-of-use play on its planning credentials rather than its current rent.
Valuation and lenders
Valuation and lender considerations.
Retail valuations come back on two bases. Vacant possession value is the floor where the unit is empty or where the lease has fewer than three years remaining. Investment value applies where there is a tenant with a recognisable covenant and a meaningful unexpired term. Lenders typically lend on the lower of the two for unregulated bridging, with the LTV cap sitting at 65 to 70% of the operative figure for most cases and 60% where the unit is fully vacant or single-let to a weak covenant. MT Finance, Octane Capital, United Trust Bank, Avamore Capital, ASK Partners and Shawbrook all take retail on bridging, with Hope Capital and Together comfortable on smaller mixed parades. Yield evidence in the right postcode helps; a vague comparable from a different town does not.
What we arrange
What we typically arrange.
On a typical retail bridge we arrange £350,000 to £1.8 million at 65 to 70% LTV, term 9 to 15 months, rate 0.75 to 1.25% per month, arrangement fee 1.5 to 2%. Exit is most commonly a refinance to term commercial debt, a sale of the freehold to an investor, or a planning-led conversion to residential with a sale of the converted units. We package the case in 48 hours, run the valuation and legal in parallel, and complete in 14 to 21 days where the title is clean. Where title insurance is available, auction completions inside 7 days are achievable.
FAQs
Retail bridging questions
Can we bridge a retail unit with a sitting tenant on a short lease?
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Yes, and that is one of the more common scenarios. Lenders price for the unexpired term and the covenant. A unit with 18 months left on a lease to a recognisable national operator and a known re-gear conversation in train reads as lower risk than a unit with five years left to an unrated local tenant. The exit usually drives the LTV more than the lease length, so a credible refinance plan to term commercial debt opens the door to 65 to 70% LTV on the right covenant.
How does bridging work on a retail to residential conversion in Brighton?
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We typically arrange the purchase bridge at 65% of the as-is value, plus a tranche for the works released against monitoring surveyor sign-off at staged completion. Once the conversion is complete and the units are either let or under offer, the exit is to BTL refinance for retained units or open-market sale for disposals. Permitted-development from Class E to C3 has shortened the planning piece on smaller retail units in BN1 and BN3. Article 4 directions exist in parts of Brighton and Hove, so the planning position is checked first.
What rate range applies to retail bridging across East Sussex?
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Most retail bridges in East Sussex price between 0.75% and 1.25% per month. Tenanted investment units with a strong covenant and clear refinance exit sit at the lower end. Vacant secondary stock or change-of-use plays sit at the upper end, with the highest pricing reserved for heavy refurbishment or contested planning positions. Arrangement fees are 1.5 to 2% of the loan, with valuation case-by-case and legal fees on both sides paid by the borrower.
Tell us about the deal
Indicative terms within 24 hours.
A short triage call, then a sized indicative offer against a named lender for your retail property in Brighton or across East Sussex.
Regulated bridging on owner-occupied residential property falls under FCA regulation. Unregulated bridging on commercial and investment property does not. We are not directly regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and we introduce regulated cases to authorised partners who carry out the regulated activity.
Next step
Talk to a Brighton retail bridging specialist.
We arrange short-term finance on retail property across Brighton, the Brighton and Hove unitary authority and the wider East Sussex market. Indicative terms in 24 hours.