A bridging loan is a short-term, secured lending facility designed to bridge a financial gap — typically for a period of one to eighteen months. Bridging finance is widely used by property investors, developers, and businesses when speed is critical and conventional long-term lending is either unavailable or too slow. With lending decisions often available within 24–48 hours and completion achievable in days, bridging finance is one of the most powerful and flexible commercial finance tools available in the UK market.