For investors, landlords and developers
Property Refurbishment Finance
Refurbishment loans structured around your strategy, not just your property. Flips, buy-refurbish-refinance and HMO conversions, with the bridge and the exit designed together so the deal never depends on luck at the back end.
Structures we arrange
Match the money to the strategy
The most expensive mistake in refurbishment investing is not the rate: it is the wrong structure. A flip financed on an 18-month facility pays for a year of flexibility it never uses. A BRR deal financed without the refinance tested first can finish the works and find no lender at the assumed end value. An HMO conversion put through a light facility hits a funding wall the day the first wall comes down. We start from your exit and work backwards.
Buy, refurbish, sell: the flip
Speed in, certainty through, clean exit. Flips borrow on light refurbishment bridges at 0.75 - 0.99% per month with works in arrears. The numbers that matter are the all-in cost of money against your projected margin, and the term headroom if the sale takes longer than the works. We model both before you bid, which is why our flip clients tend to buy at auction with confidence.
Buy, refurbish, refinance: the BRR method
BRR compounds a limited cash pot across multiple refurbishment loans and properties by pulling equity back out at each refinance. The whole model rests on the end valuation and the exit mortgage criteria: interest cover, minimum property values, time-owned rules. We arrange the bridge and the exit together, and where the numbers are tight we favour lenders offering a guaranteed exit from bridge to term product. The full mechanics are in our BRR financing guide.
HMO and multi-unit conversions
Converting a house into an HMO or a building into flats is where refurbishment finance earns its keep: the uplift from single dwelling to income-producing multi-let supports facilities sized on end value rather than purchase price. Underwriting turns on planning (especially in Article 4 areas), licensing and the credibility of your schedule of works. Exit is an HMO investment-value refinance or sale.
Commercial refurbishment loans
The same structures fund commercial property. Commercial refurbishment loans cover offices being upgraded between tenancies, retail units being reconfigured, and mixed-use buildings being repositioned, at slightly lower leverage than residential (typically 65 - 70% LTV) and with the exit tested against commercial investment values or an onward sale. Where the plan is commercial-to-residential conversion, the facility is sized on the residential end value instead, which usually supports more borrowing. If you are unsure which side of the line your application sits, apply through the enquiry form: the difference between a commercial refurbishment facility and a conversion facility is worth real money and we will tell you which yours is before you borrow.
A worked example: BRR terrace to rental
Worked example
BRR purchase at £145,000 with £35,000 of works, end value £225,000, refinanced onto a 75% buy-to-let mortgage and re-let at £1,150 pcm.
Figures
Indicative figures for illustration only. Lender criteria vary and every figure is confirmed in a formal offer. Cash returned depends on the exit valuation and the term lender's interest cover requirements at the time of refinance.
Property refurbishment finance questions
An umbrella term for the funding investors use to buy and improve property: refurbishment bridging loans for the project phase, and term mortgages for the exit. The right structure depends on your strategy. Flips want the cheapest short money; BRR wants the bridging loan and the refinance designed together; HMO conversions want heavy refurb facilities sized on end value.
A bridging loan funds the purchase and works. On completion of the works the property is revalued and you refinance onto a buy-to-let mortgage at the new value, repaying the bridge and pulling most of your cash back out. The two risks in this bridging finance structure are the end valuation and the refinance criteria; we stress-test both exit strategies, and where possible use a single lender with a guaranteed exit product covering both phases.
Yes. Converting a house to an HMO is usually heavy refurbishment because of works scale, building regulations and often planning (Article 4 areas). The facility is sized against the end value as an HMO, and the exit is either an HMO investment valuation refinance or sale. Licensing timelines matter for the exit and we plan around them from day one.
Most investors now do: SPV borrowing keeps the panel wide on both the bridge and the exit mortgage, and suits investors building a portfolio. But it interacts with tax in ways that depend on your circumstances, and we are not tax advisers: take advice from an accountant before choosing the vehicle. We arrange finance on either basis.
One application funds the purchase and the works. The lender advances a percentage of the purchase price on day one, holds the works budget in a separate facility, and releases it in arrears or in stages as the project completes. Interest is retained rather than paid monthly, and the whole facility is repaid at the exit: a sale or a refinance at the improved value. Refurbishment loans run from £75k to £5m on terms of 3 to 24 months.
Plan for 25% of the purchase price, fees of roughly 2% plus legals and valuation, working capital for your largest works stage before reimbursement, and a 10-15% works contingency. On a £200,000 purchase with £40,000 of works, that is realistically £65,000 to £75,000 of accessible cash even though the works are fully funded.
Talk to us about your project
Tell us the property, the schedule of works and the exit. We will come back with indicative terms, usually the same working day.