Auction finance

Yes, and it is done every week, by preparation rather than speed. Read the legal pack before the sale, get indicative terms on the lot before you bid, instruct the valuation the day the hammer falls, and have the exit in writing. Clean deals on our panel complete in two to six weeks; an auction purchase sits inside that range when those four things are done first. 26 of the 53 bridging lenders on our panel accept an automated valuation on suitable property, which removes the site visit from the calendar. Figures checked September 2026; panel composition changes over time.

Under a standard auction contract you pay a deposit, usually 10 percent, when the hammer falls, and you are legally bound to complete on the date in the conditions of sale. Miss it and the seller can charge interest, and if the delay runs on, keep the deposit and resell. That is why the finance is arranged before the sale, not after: a buyer who bids without terms in hand is betting the deposit on a lender saying yes.

Most lend against the lower of the two, which on a genuine auction bargain means a smaller loan than the property's value would support. 23 lenders on our panel lend on value rather than price where the valuation comes in higher, which is worth knowing before you set your maximum bid.

Across the bridging products on our panel at 70 percent loan-to-value the monthly rate runs from 0.6% to 2%, typically around 0.9%; arrangement fees from 1% to 4%, typically 2% (checked September 2026). Add the valuation, the legal fees on both sides and, with some lenders, an exit fee. Terms run from one to 24 months, and the maximum loan-to-value across the panel is typically around 70%. Those are spans across products, not an offer.

Often. A property that is unmortgageable as it stands, or needs structural work, goes to the 35 bridging lenders that fund heavy refurbishment, and the exit becomes a sale or a refinance of the finished property. Say what the works are before you bid; it changes both the lender and the loan.

Not inside 28 days, as a rule; a commercial mortgage needs a full valuation, an underwrite of the accounts or the tenant, and legal work that takes longer than the auction allows. The usual route is a bridge to complete, then a refinance onto the mortgage once the property is yours. A decision in principle from the mortgage lender before the auction is what makes that exit credible.

A bridge to a limited company or LLP on a property nobody in the borrower's family will live in is generally unregulated. A bridge on a home you or a relative will occupy is a regulated mortgage contract, which we do not arrange. CapExpand Ltd (FRN 1060885) is an Appointed Representative of White Rose Finance Group Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 630772). For property-secured lending we work with UK limited companies and LLPs only, for business and commercial purposes.