Bridging Loan Calculator
Calculate UK bridging loan costs for 2025/26. See total interest, arrangement and exit fees, effective APR, and compare open vs closed bridge rates. Includes chain break analysis to show whether bridging is cheaper than losing your purchase.
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How to Use This Calculator
Bridging Cost tab
Enter your loan amount, term in months, and monthly interest rate. Add the arrangement fee and exit fee as percentages of the loan. Choose whether interest is rolled up (added to the loan and repaid at the end) or serviced (paid monthly). The calculator shows total interest, total fees, total cost of the bridge, and the effective APR. Use this to compare lender quotes or sense-check a bridging offer.
Chain Break tab
Enter the price of the property you are buying, your expected sale proceeds from your current home, and your available deposit. The calculator works out how much bridging finance you need, what it will cost, and compares that cost to the estimated cost of losing your purchase (including stamp duty on a future re-buy, conveyancing costs, and property price risk). This helps you decide whether bridging is worth it.
Open vs Closed tab
Enter the same loan amount and term, then set the closed bridge rate (available when your exit date is fixed) and the open bridge rate (when the exit date is uncertain). The calculator shows the extra cost of choosing an open bridge and the APR difference. Use this to decide whether it is worth waiting for exchange of contracts before drawing down the bridge.
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The Formula
Bridging loan costs are calculated differently depending on whether interest is rolled up or serviced:
Gross loan = Loan amount + Arrangement fee (if added to facility)
Final balance = Gross loan × (1 + monthly rate)^term
Total interest = Final balance − Gross loan
Serviced interest (simple monthly):
Monthly payment = Loan amount × monthly rate
Total interest = Monthly payment × term (months)
Fees:
Arrangement fee = Loan amount × arrangement fee %
Exit fee = Loan amount × exit fee %
Total cost = Total interest + Arrangement fee + Exit fee
Effective APR (compound):
APR = (1 + monthly rate)^12 − 1
Example: 0.7%/month = (1.007)^12 − 1 = 8.73% APR
Note: rolled-up bridging typically costs more than serviced because deferred interest compounds on itself. Lenders offering rolled-up products are not making monthly repayment demands — the full balance is repaid on the exit event (sale, remortgage, or refinance).
Example
Mark — homeowner, buying a £400,000 house in Surrey
Mark has found his dream home in Surrey priced at £400,000. His current house is under offer at £350,000 but the buyer is in a long chain. Mark has £40,000 in savings. He wants to know whether a bridging loan makes sense to avoid losing the purchase.
Bridge required
Bridging costs (4 months at 0.75%/month, 1.5% arrangement)
Cost of losing the purchase
In Mark’s case the bridge amount is small and the bridging cost (£450) is negligible compared to the estimated £24,500 cost of losing the purchase. Bridging is clearly worthwhile. In cases where the bridge amount is much larger — for example because the buying price significantly exceeds the sale price — a full cost comparison is essential.