Exit strategy

An exit strategy is the means by which a bridging loan will be repaid at or before the end of its term: usually a remortgage on to a buy-to-let product once the property is lettable, or a sale. Because a bridging lender is repaid from the exit rather than from the borrower's income, the exit is the thing it underwrites, and an application without a credible, evidenced exit is declined however good the security.

The two exits

A refinance exit relies on a term lender agreeing to lend on the post-works valuation and rent; the risk is that the surveyor at exit does not agree the figure the plan assumed, or that the rent fails the interest coverage ratio. A sale exit relies on the property selling within the term at a price that clears the loan, rolled-up interest and fees; the risk is time. Many lenders offer bridge-to-let products that agree the refinance at the outset, which converts the exit from a hope into a contract.

What lenders ask for

A decision in principle from the exit lender, or a named bridge-to-let product; a schedule of works with costs and timings; comparable evidence for the post-works value and rent; and, for portfolio landlords, a portfolio schedule showing the whole book passes the exit lender's stress test. August's reports produce that schedule and hold the works invoices against the property, which is what the exit lender's underwriter asks for at month nine.

Timing

Build in a margin. A refinance takes eight to twelve weeks from application to completion; a sale takes longer. A 12-month bridge with a plan that needs eleven months has no exit strategy, only a schedule. Refinancing a tenanted property has its own wrinkles, covered in remortgaging a rental.

From working with landlords across the UK, the exit that fails most often is not the sale that does not happen; it is the refinance that comes back £30,000 below the plan and leaves the landlord servicing bridging interest while looking for a second lender. Get the exit valuation assumptions in writing from the broker before drawdown.

The term is also used for a landlord's plan to leave the sector or restructure a portfolio, by selling, incorporating or passing property on; that sense is covered in selling a rental property. Lenders that accept each kind of exit are compared in the best bridging loan lenders and best buy-to-let mortgage lenders guides.

Last reviewed: September 2026.