West One Loans review 2026: land bridging, the Limited-Edition rate and the fee it does not publish

Who West One are and who stands behind them

West One is a trading name of firms registered at The Edward Hyde Building, 38 Clarendon Road, Watford WD17 1JW. Bridging is written by West One Loan Ltd (05385677), incorporated on 8 March 2005 and filed under SIC 64922, mortgage finance companies. The footer describes it as authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 510024, with West One Secured Loans Ltd holding 776026. The product guide adds the necessary caveat: “Certain types of loans are not regulated; for example loans for business purposes and certain buy-to-lets.”

The accounts to 31 December 2025, filed on 21 May 2026, show interest income of £80,250,503 against £53,153,469 the year before, net interest income of £45,637,977, operating profit of £42,157,546 and profit after tax of £41,926,133. Net assets stood at £104,991,104. An impairment loss expense of £2,233,529 replaced a small credit the previous year. The strategic report gives origination volumes directly: on-balance-sheet bridging originations of £579,831,475 in 2025 against £525,771,520 in 2024, with a further £237,270,241 written off balance sheet, and development finance originations of £215,058,396. Those figures were read from a scanned filing.

Structurally, West One originates loans and then sells most of them to a funding vehicle, West One Loan No.3 Limited, while keeping legal title, administering the loans and retaining exposure to the risks and rewards. It also runs an alternative investment fund manager structure where it acts as fund manager and, in its own words, retains no credit or liquidity risk. The company describes itself as a subsidiary of its indirect parent, Enra Specialist Finance Limited. Elliott Advisors acquired a majority stake in Enra in March 2022, an event West One's own news archive records.

The Limited-Edition bridge, and the rate that appears twice

On 9 June 2026 West One launched a Limited-Edition bridging product. Its own announcement sets the terms: loan sizes between £150,000 and £1m, first-charge residential bridging only, rates starting from 0.70% on regulated cases and 0.75% on unregulated. It excludes re-bridging and any property requiring works beyond light cosmetic improvements, and it is available only to UK residents and nationals with a clean credit profile.

Those four exclusions do most of the work. A borrower refinancing an existing bridge is out. A borrower planning a kitchen and bathroom refit is probably in; one planning a loft conversion is not. An expat is out, which matters because West One's standard range elsewhere says complex offshore structures are considered. The narrowness is the point: a clean, quick, low-risk case gets a sharper rate.

The regulated first-charge rate is published twice, differently. The July 2026 product guide says from 0.70% on regulated first charge. The residential range table on the website says from 0.75% for the same thing. The June 2026 Limited-Edition announcement supports 0.70%, so the website table looks out of date rather than wrong in principle. We quote both figures to a borrower and let the offer letter settle it, because the guide itself warns that “the rates contained within this document are for guidance only, and a subjective analysis is carried out on the quality of the asset, customer profile and market conditions”. There are other date mismatches on the site: the footer reads 2025, the July 2026 guide is served from a folder named for 2025, and the tariff of charges has a September 2024 filename with a July 2026 footer.

What West One lends against, including land

The bridging range covers regulated and non-regulated residential, purchase and refinance, semi-commercial, commercial and land, with bridge-to-let, development finance, buy-to-let, residential mortgages, second charge mortgages and commercial mortgages around it. Minimum loan is £75,000 across every bridging product. Terms start at one month. Regulated residential caps at twelve months, everything else at 24.

Land is the product worth naming. Maximum 50% loan to value with or without planning permission, from 1.10% a month, first charge only, one to 24 months, minimum £75,000. Land without planning is on a referral basis, and where planning has been granted the application reference must be supplied. No other bridging lender in this group publishes a standalone land bridge, so a plot purchase with a development finance exit has an obvious home.

Second charges are available on regulated and non-regulated residential, semi-commercial and commercial at up to 65% LTV. Re-bridging is considered by referral. There is a real gap on refurbishment: no refurbishment or heavy refurbishment bridging product appears in the July 2026 guide, even though the website describes bridging as suited to refurbishment work, and the residential purchase criteria say any works required are funded by the borrower. Heavier works appear to sit in development finance instead. Commercial exclusions are published: places of worship, schools, football clubs and operating care homes are generally not acceptable, and a vacant possession valuation is used on all operating businesses.

Geography is England, Wales and mainland Scotland. Every product in the guide repeats “Scotland - mainland only”, so the islands are excluded in writing. Northern Ireland does not appear at all, which we record as an absence rather than as a stated exclusion.

What it costs, and the number that is missing

Published starting rates from the July 2026 guide: regulated residential from 0.70% on first charge and 0.95% on second; non-regulated residential from 0.75% and 0.95%; semi-commercial from 0.90% and 1.05%; commercial from 1.00% and 1.10%; land from 1.10%. Rates are quoted fixed, with a variable option available on all non-regulated products but not on regulated ones. Interest is retained only on regulated loans; non-regulated products allow retained or serviced, with servicing subject to an affordability assessment.

Then the gap. The tariff of charges dated July 2026 lists the product fee and the arrangement fee with the same answer for both: refer to your illustration or offer letter for full details. No percentage appears anywhere on the site or in the guide. Every other lender we reviewed alongside West One publishes a number, usually 2%. A borrower comparing a 0.75% West One rate with a 0.83% rate elsewhere is comparing an incomplete figure, so the first question on any West One case is what the fee actually is.

What West One does publish is the rest of the tariff, in detail. No early repayment charges. A £35 CHAPS fee. A variable extension fee. Duplicate or interim statement £25, lender reference £50, request for legal documentation £35, unpaid ground rent or service charge £100, partial release of property £165, change of parties £165, consent to let £165, returned direct debit £25, home visit £120 plus VAT, redemption statement request £50. On regulated loans only, an arrears fee of £60 a month and an over term fee of £250 a month. That over term fee is a specific, published penalty for running past the end date, and most competitors do not disclose an equivalent.

Who gets approved, and what West One will not tell you

The published criteria are thin on the borrower and firm on the deal. Minimum age 18 with no maximum. Proof of funds or evidence of deposit is required on purchases. Complex offshore structures are considered. An evidenced, robust exit strategy is required, which is the one criterion West One states in bold terms.

Two things are simply not addressed. Personal guarantees appear nowhere in the July 2026 product guide or the tariff, so we treat West One's guarantee policy as unverified and ask case by case. Adverse credit is not addressed either. The only signal is indirect: the Limited-Edition product is restricted to borrowers with a clean credit profile, which implies the standard range is more flexible, but no criteria are published to say how flexible. A borrower with a recent default cannot self-assess against West One from its website, which is the practical cost of the omission.

On speed, West One is refreshingly unshowy. The guide makes an operational commitment rather than a promise: “Legal undertakings requested by exception only”, and a dedicated underwriter assigned to each case. Published case studies show six-day and nine-day completions. There is no blanket claim about funds in 24 hours anywhere in the material we read. One published auction case completed through a fast-track product that used an automated valuation, dual legal representation and title insurance, with the borrower paying no upfront costs, funds ready on day three and completion on day nine.

The move into commercial mortgages

July 2026 brought a commercial mortgage launch to the wider market, alongside rate reductions on commercial and semi-commercial lending. On 25 August 2026 West One cut fixed commercial mortgage rates by 75 basis points. On 3 August 2026 it announced four sales appointments in its short-term division. The short-term team is named in the guide: Thomas Cantor and Guy Murray as co-heads, Jez Quinn as head of sales, plus eight named business development managers.

For a borrower, the value of a bridging lender that also writes commercial mortgages is exit certainty. A bridge whose exit is a term loan from the same group is a shorter conversation than one whose exit depends on an unrelated lender's appetite twelve months from now. It is not a guarantee, and West One does not offer it as one, but on a semi-commercial purchase where the plan is buy, let and refinance, it removes a step.