Reputation over rates: what brokers now want from bridging lenders

Reputation and trust are rapidly becoming the driving factors in selecting bridging lenders.

That’s the key takeaway for me from the 2026 UK Bridging Market Survey report from Interpath and the Bridging & Development Lenders Association, published in June.

The report is based on responses from brokers and lenders across the sector, offering a great insight into the shape of the bridging market today, as well as what may lie ahead.

 

Less need for speed

One of the more telling areas of the report centred on the main considerations when opting for a lender, with reputation the clear first choice — ahead of price and speed of execution.

In part, this is a reflection on how the market has evolved, and how expectations have shifted.

For a long time, speed was the big selling point of bridging loans, the product of choice for those facing a pressing deadline. Being able to get a deal over the line within a matter of days was the priority.

But as the market has developed, being fast is now largely a given. Given the level of competition, if you aren’t able to move quickly, you simply won’t win much business at all.

Equally, as the use of bridging has become more proactive, speed is no longer the defining factor it once was when selecting a lender.

More brokers are now using bridging as part of wider refinancing strategies, refurbishment projects and portfolio repositioning, which means transactions are often more involved than they once were.

In many cases, the challenge is no longer simply getting a deal completed quickly, but making sure it continues progressing smoothly once valuations, legal work or refinance exits start shifting during the process.

Where transactions already involve more moving parts, brokers are understandably less willing to take additional execution risk from the lender itself.

It’s a similar story with price. Offering a competitive rate will always be important for any lender looking to attract bridging business, but rate alone simply isn’t enough.

Brokers and their clients are looking for more than just an eye-catching rate; they want to work with lenders they trust to deliver and who can continue supporting the deal if circumstances become more complicated along the way.

 

Living up to your word

Instead, reputation is now becoming the deciding factor, with brokers more likely to opt for lenders who they trust. This perhaps isn’t surprising given some of the challenges faced by the bridging industry over recent months, including the demise of some well-known names.

Against that backdrop, it makes sense that brokers would want to work with lenders who have been around for some time and built up a reputation for delivering.

However, trust has been growing in importance for some time. All too often we hear from frustrated brokers who have been irritated by experiences with lenders who promised the world only to under-deliver.

It could be because of a slow ‘no’, a change of terms once the deal was already well progressed, or concerns only raised late in the process when there was little time left to restructure the transaction elsewhere.

That can leave brokers and borrowers in a difficult position, particularly where there are auction deadlines, refinancing pressures or onward purchases involved.

It’s important to remember that brokers have long memories. Building a solid reputation doesn’t happen overnight, but by providing a consistent, reliable experience you will win business even if your rates aren’t the absolute lowest in the market.

 

The challenges ahead

The report’s findings on the challenges for lenders were telling too.

It’s no surprise that competition remains the biggest challenge. We have all seen the influx of new lenders into bridging over recent years, and that level of choice means brokers tend to have plenty of options for their clients. Winning business has rarely been more important, nor more difficult to do.

However, competition was only selected by a third of lender respondents as the biggest challenge; this is down from more than half in last year’s survey, which reflects the fact that other factors are becoming more pressing considerations.

The decline in property sales volumes and the time taken to sell were cited by the same proportion as those noting lender competition, which reflects the reality that a slower housing market can start feeding into liquidity pressures and greater sensitivity around execution risk for some lenders.

For brokers, that will only add to the appeal of working with lenders with reliable funding structures and a proven ability to continue supporting transactions through changing market conditions.

The report suggests tempered expectations around market growth, which in my view is probably right. Bridging has rightly established itself as a central tool for brokers and borrowers alike, but transactions are also taking longer to unwind in parts of the market and often require more contingency planning than they did during faster-moving periods.

As a result, lenders who can point to a long track record, well-established broker relationships and secure funding lines are likely to remain the lenders brokers continue placing business with.

 

Henry Manley-Cooper, Deputy Managing Director, Bridging Finance