Loan structure
First Charge
A first charge means the lender has the primary legal claim against the property if it's sold or repossessed — they get repaid first.
When a property is sold or repossessed, the proceeds repay charges in order: first charge first, then second charge, and so on. The first-charge lender is fully covered before any other lender sees a penny.
For the borrower, a first-charge bridge is straightforward: there's no other mortgage on the property (or any existing mortgage is being redeemed at completion). Most bridging is first-charge.
Because first-charge lenders take the lowest risk, they offer the lowest rates. First-charge bridging on our panel starts at 0.55% per month for low-LTV cases, while a comparable second-charge bridge would price 0.20-0.30% per month higher.