Indeed, taking one’s time, practicing a bit of forethought and ‘sleeping on it’ are all seen as good traits when it comes to effective decision making.

But in the world of short-term finance, there’s a bit of conflict in this area.

Bridging finance is synonymous with – even defined by – speed.

If a homeowner wants a bridging loan in order to purchase their dream home, they only have a very small window of opportunity in which to do so. Fail to secure drawdown in time and they miss out.

At Masthaven, we often say that borrowers don’t just want bridging finance – they need it, too. But the rub is that short-term lending is bespoke and specialist. It’s not as simple as a straightforward mortgage. It requires excellent diligence on the part of the underwriter, especially for complex cases.

How, then, do good bridging lenders find that sweet spot – the harmonious point between speed and good judgement? Here are a few ideas.

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Intelligent underwriting

At the heart of any bridging case sits the underwriter. At Masthaven and all other lenders, the underwriter is the driving force, taking cases on and seeing them through to completion. Underwriting is a real skill and the best short-term lenders recruit great staff and instil in them the craft that is smart underwriting: tackling cases with speed, while also practising excellent, thoughtful 

judgement and assessing applications individually. We’ve recently celebrated a 48-hour turnaround on a bridging case – proof that it’s possible to deliver at speed.

Smart processes

The devil is in the detail. Short-term cases go through efficiently and compliantly when the processes underpinning them are robust. We have recently reviewed our internal processes and made some changes to the way we work – including no longer collecting valuation fees ourselves and waiving the requirement for original signed offer letters before drawdown – to improve and refine our processes.

Great connections

One of the key reasons bridging cases get slowed down is when a solicitor intrusted to act on an application doesn’t quite understand the specifics of short-term finance. This isn’t because they are bad solicitors – it’s just that they are perhaps not quite as experienced in the nuances of bridging as others are. Good bridging lenders work with trusted third parties – people they’re confident can come in and work quickly on applications, delivering on time.