Arranging Bridging Finance in Belgium  

Belgium bridging loans are often compared to mortgages, usually because they use real estate as collateral for the finance. The comparison is often made because borrowers often use bridging loans to complete property transactions quickly, often before you have sold an existing property to finance an onward purchase. However, bridging finance is one of the most flexible types of finance, and there are plenty of different ways you can use a loan. You might need to close a Belgian property transaction as soon as possible or complete the sale by a specific date, for example. Alternatively, you might want to release equity from a property you own in Belgium. You can make this happen using a bridging loan and utilise capital to invest, buy more property, use in your business, consolidate debt, renovate your property, purchase buy-to-let or investment property, and so on. 

There are no borrower constraints on Belgium bridging loans, and you can use them if you are a Belgian resident or national, expat or foreign national buying property in the country. You can also use bridging loans to release equity against your primary residence, commercial property or other residential real estate you own anywhere in the country. 

Belgium bridging loans: overview

• Loan size: €100,000 - €10 million +
• Property: Commercial and residential, including high-value residential property
• Term: 2-36 months
• LTV: Up to 75%
• Borrower: Individuals, corporate entities, SPVs, trusts, etc.
• Uses: Equity release, renovation, property purchase, etc.

From finance of €100,000 to large loans of more than €1 million, we can broker any size bridging loan deal. We can broker bridging loans secured against commercial or residential real estate. What you can borrow will depend on what you want to achieve, your background, and the value of the property you’ll put forward as collateral. Rates start at about 1% PCM, but again, lenders can offer different rates, which is why brokering is so beneficial: we will get you the maximum LTV possible at the lowest rate. You’ll need to consider more than just the interest rate with a Belgium bridging loan, as other costs are associated with this type of finance. These usually include property valuations, legal fees, arrangement fees and additional fees set by the lender. Depending on the deal and your lender, there might also be additional costs you need to consider which are applied on an ad hoc basis as required – tax advice and other service provider fees, for example. We can talk you through what all these are when you approach us and when we have offers for you, so you know exactly what it will cost you to borrow.

We will get you bridging loan offers in 1-2 days to help you draw down funds as quickly as possible – we know you might be against the clock and it’s essential to make sure you can access the loan in the minimum timeframe. We regularly arrange bridging finance deals that we complete for our clients in just 10-12 days. We will work with you throughout the application process to troubleshoot and help you get your documents together to ensure the deal can move ahead as needed. 

Lenders will want to understand how you will pay back your bridging loan. Your exit – or repayment – is essential to lenders and your plans affect your ability to borrow. When lenders see you can easily repay the loan, they are more likely to offer you a Belgium bridging loan. If they don’t have conviction in your exit or see your plan as unworkable, you won’t be able to borrow. 

A bridging loan is different from a mortgage in the sense that you must pay back the loan capital as a lump sum at term – you don’t pay off the capital and interest over many years. Lenders will investigate your exit plan carefully to make sure you have the funds available to repay loan capital when required, as well as settle any other fees. Lenders are happy to consider a variety of exits: you can sell the property the loan is secured against, use capital or income you have saved, or use a financial settlement or refinance via another lender to repay a Belgium bridging loan. Most importantly, you can’t just tell lenders how you’ll exit the loan; you’ll need to document your plans to showcase the steps you will take or what will happen to ensure you can repay the full amount you are liable for.