Can you get a £500 million bridging loan?

Short answer: almost never from a single bridging lender. Long answer: it depends on the asset, the exit, the borrower and how creative you are with structure. If you need half a billion pounds of short-term, high-cost finance wrapped around property or corporate assets, you should think in terms of a financing package - not a single traditional bridging loan. I’ll explain why, what typically goes wrong, and how to build a realistic path to the money you need while protecting your downside.

Why borrowers ask for £500 million bridging loans

There are three common scenarios where someone starts asking for an eye-watering bridging facility:

• Large-scale property portfolio acquisitions or bulk purchases where speed matters and the buyer wants to close before longer-term funding is arranged.
• Complex development programmes requiring rapid drawdown to acquire land and start works while planning or refinancing is finalised.
• Corporate transactions - estate consolidation, urgent liquidity for a distressed but fundamentally valuable business, or a pre-IPO capital requirement.

In all cases the client wants speed, certainty and an exit plan that turns short-term finance into long-term capital. Bridging is attractive because it can be arranged faster than a traditional mortgage or bond. The problem is the size: bridging lenders tend to be specialists focussed on speed and smaller facilities. Asking for £500 million flips normal market dynamics upside down.

What goes wrong when you chase mega bridging loans

When a borrower attempts to obtain an exceptionally large bridging loan, the practical consequences can become severe and fast. Here’s what typically happens in real cases I’ve seen:

• Time is lost courting the wrong lenders - small specialist houses and private funds that cannot legally or practically commit that level of capital.
• Deal terms deteriorate because the borrower accepts onerous covenants just to get a headline approval. These can trigger early exits or punitive penalties if timing slips.
• Market risk increases - the more parties involved, the greater the chance of a break in the stack. If a single participant pulls out during a syndicated bridging arrangement, the borrower can be left exposed mid-execution.
• Costs balloon. Very large short-term finance tends to attract higher margins, arrangement fees and legal costs, eating into project returns.

If you’re not protecting cash flow and exit certainty, a rushed search for a huge bridging loan can turn a solvable timing mismatch into a ruined transaction.

Three reasons large bridging loan requests fail

Understanding the root causes helps you avoid the common traps. Here are the three main reasons lenders decline very large bridging requests.

1. Capacity and risk appetite

Most bridging lenders are set up to underwrite and manage facilities up to a certain size. Their boards, regulatory permissions and risk systems are sized for tens of millions, not hundreds. Even if a lender wants to help, committing £500 million on a single short-term exposure is a governance and capital allocation problem. The effect: a lot of polite "we can't accommodate this" responses.

2. Exit uncertainty

Bridging lenders care about the exit - how quickly you will repay and from what source. For very large amounts the exit tends to be a complex refinancing, sale of multiple assets or an equity raise. If the exit path looks conditional or protracted, lenders will either decline or demand pricing that makes the deal uneconomic.

3. Asset concentration and enforceability

Large loans often sit against large, concentrated assets. That concentrates enforcement risk. Lenders price concentration with lower loan-to-value (LTV) propertyinvestortoday limits and stricter covenants. If your assets are highly specialised - say an unfinished stadium or bespoke industrial campus - finding lenders who can value and recover is difficult.

When and how a lender will consider very large short-term finance

It’s not impossible to put together a £500 million short-term facility, but you need to change your frame. Rather than hunting for a single bridging lender who’ll write one gigantic cheque, think in terms of a structured financing solution that combines lenders, equity and staged exits.

Realistic large-scale structures

• Club or syndicated bridge - several institutional lenders or private funds participate, each taking a tranche. One lead arranger coordinates documentation and security.
• Mezzanine layering - senior short-term debt covers a portion, with mezzanine or preferred equity filling the gap, reducing senior exposure and aligning returns with risk.
• Warehouse and bond follow-on - a warehouse line is used for rapid acquisition, then a bond or securitisation repays the warehouse when the portfolio is stable.
• Joint venture equity - bring in an investor to provide some capital, lowering the immediate debt need and strengthening the exit story for lenders.

Each option shifts risk away from a single party and creates an exit route lenders can underwrite. The cost and complexity rise, but it becomes executable.

What about specialist houses like KIS Finance?

Specialist bridging lenders, including notable names in the UK market, can move quickly and finance complex deals. Most of them, though, have practical caps. For very large transactions lenders expect to work as part of a syndicate or to be the senior participant in a split between senior bridge and subordinated capital. Treat any lone-lender promise of £500 million as a red flag unless they show a clear syndication plan and committed participants.

6 Steps to put together large-scale short-term finance

Here’s a step-by-step process that reflects how experienced brokers and corporate finance teams actually secure big bridging packages.

1. Clarify the exit - no lender lends blind

   Document a credible exit within the facility term: committed refinancing terms, sale agreements in advanced stages, realistic equity injections, or a completed planning permission that materially changes asset value. The exit is the single most important driver of lender appetite and pricing.

2. Build an asset-level model and stress-test it

   Prepare a cash flow model showing downside scenarios - slower sales, higher costs, interest upswing. Lenders will run their own stress tests. If your model collapses under modest stress, you’ll need more equity or lower leverage before approaching markets.

3. Identify lead arrangers and get a mandate

   Engage an arranger or a senior broker who has relationships with institutional lenders. The arranger will pitch the deal to a list of potential participants and secure conditional commitments before you present the package to smaller bridging houses.

4. Layer the financing - senior, mezzanine, equity

   Design a capital stack that reduces any single lender’s exposure. Senior lenders take priority, mezzanine fills gaps with higher return requirements, and equity provides the cushion. Make the stack simple enough to be enforceable in stressed situations.

5. Agree security and governance up front

   Complex deals die on legal detail. Agree intercreditor terms, enforcement triggers and control mechanics early. Lenders will demand clarity around approvals, borrower covenants and what happens if a syndicated participant defaults.

6. Lock in pricing and conditionality

   Get binding commitments that include margin, fees, and all conditions precedent. If pricing moves materially before completion, you need documented protection or an ability to walk away. Never accept vague "subject to final diligence" approvals as firm commitments for this scale.

   

What to expect after securing large short-term finance - timeline and outcomes

Assuming you assemble a realistic package, here is a typical timeline and what you should expect at each stage.

Stage Typical duration What happens Mandate and structuring 2-6 weeks Lead arranger secures initial commitments, capital stack agreed, indicative heads of terms signed. Due diligence and documentation 4-12 weeks Lenders conduct legal, tax, property and financial due diligence. Intercreditor and security documents negotiated. Drawdown 1-4 weeks after documentation Facilities signed, securities registered, funds released in tranches per agreed conditions. Execution period 3-24 months (bridge term) Borrower executes the plan - development, asset disposal or refinancing. Regular reporting to lenders and compliance with covenants. Exit / repayment Immediate to 12 months post-execution Refinancing or sale repays the bridge. Any shortfall may trigger enforcement or require additional equity injection.

Real outcome: if the exit occurs as planned, the borrower pays margin, fees and possibly exit fees, but pocketed gains can be substantial. If the exit is delayed or value falls, the borrower can face roll costs, enforced disposals or default. That risk is why upfront modelling and realistic covenants matter.

Thought experiments to sharpen your plan

Run these quick thought experiments before you pitch to lenders. They reveal weak spots that surface during diligence.

Experiment 1: The 30% haircut

Imagine your expected sale value or refinancing amount is reduced by 30%. Can the capital stack still be repaid without equity top-up? If not, you need more equity or a lower initial draw.

Experiment 2: The six-month delay

Imagine the exit is delayed by six months. Calculate the extra interest and fee burden. Can your cash flow absorb this? If the delay pushes you into covenant breach, renegotiate terms now, or accept a smaller facility.

Experiment 3: One lender pulls out

Assume a syndicated participant withdraws at completion. How quickly can the lead arrange cover? What are the penalties? Prepare fallback options - committed bridge from an alternative fund or equity standby.

Practical examples

Example 1 - bulk residential portfolio buy: a buyer wanted £350m for a stressed bulk purchase. We split the need: senior short-term finance of £220m from a consortium, mezzanine of £80m from a specialist fund, equity of £50m from the purchaser and JV partners. Exit was a staged sale of units over 18 months plus a refinancing of stabilised blocks. Result: secure, but expensive. The client accepted lower immediate return in exchange for execution certainty.

Example 2 - a development with planning risk: developer sought £120m bridging to acquire and progress a scheme while finalising planning consent expected to double value. Lenders wanted the planning as a condition or a large equity buffer. The deal closed with a reduced drawdown and a facility that increased once planning was granted. That reduced risk for lenders and saved the developer from punitive roll fees if planning delayed.

Final takeaways - how to judge whether to pursue a huge bridge

• Don’t assume a single bridging lender will provide half a billion pounds. Structure the deal as a package.
• Exit clarity is the most decisive factor. Nail it before you ask for money.
• Bring sufficient equity to absorb stress tests - lenders will expect it.
• Engage an arranger early. They open doors and coordinate syndication so your timetable doesn’t collapse.
• Document governance and intercreditor terms up front. Legal uncertainty kills large deals.

If your goal is to move quickly on a major opportunity, plan for staged finance and realistic contingencies. Be sceptical of any lender offering an oversized single cheque without a clear syndication plan or committed backers. With the right structure, disciplined modelling and the courage to bring real equity, you can assemble very large short-term finance. It just won’t look like a simple one-lender bridging loan - and it shouldn’t.