The five stages of a bridging loan, and where time gets lost
Enquiry, DIP, confirmation, undertaking and completion each need different people and different evidence. Here is what each stage asks of a lending team, and where deals usually stall.
Every bridging loan follows the same broad path, whatever the asset or the borrower. It arrives as an enquiry, becomes a decision in principle, is confirmed, moves through the undertaking stage with solicitors and valuers, and finally completes and later redeems. The stages are simple to name. What makes a lender fast or slow is how cleanly work passes from one stage to the next.
In our experience, deals rarely stall because one task is hard. They stall in the hand-offs: a broker detail typed twice, a valuation report sitting in an inbox, a solicitor waiting on a question nobody saw. Looking at each stage in turn shows where that time goes.
1. Enquiry
The enquiry is where the loan record is born. A broker sends the deal: borrower, security, net loan, term, loan category and asset type. The aim at this stage is to capture it once, in a structure the rest of the process can use, rather than as an email that someone re-keys later.
- Record the broker, the asset type and the loan category as fields, not free text.
- Note the net loan and term exactly as requested, so later changes are visible.
- Attach whatever the broker sent to the loan itself, not to a personal mailbox.
2. Decision in principle
The DIP turns the enquiry into terms. Loan-to-value, fees and conditions are calculated from the deal data and set out in a document the broker can share with the borrower. Speed matters here, but so does consistency: two DIPs for similar deals should read the same way.
3. Confirmed
Once the borrower accepts, the loan is confirmed and onboarding begins. This is where KYC and AML checks happen, and where an audit trail starts to matter. Each check, and who ran it, should be recorded against the loan as it happens.
4. Undertaking
The undertaking stage brings in the most outside parties: solicitors on both sides, valuers and, for many lenders, investors or funders. It is also where most waiting happens. Tasks, files and emails tied to the loan, with clear owners and deadlines, are what keep this stage short.
Most delay in bridging is not underwriting. It is people waiting for something they did not know had already arrived.
5. Completed, then redeemed
Completion releases funds, but the loan's life continues until redemption. Due-to-redeem tracking, redemption statements and investor cash flow reporting all depend on the same record that started at enquiry. If that record has been kept whole, redemption is routine.