Property type: Holiday Let
Holiday Let Bridging Loans Kent
We arrange bridging finance against holiday lets and short-stay property across Kent, with deepest activity along the Thanet coastal regeneration corridor in Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate, through the Whitstable and Faversham coastal market, the Deal, Walmer and Folkestone seafront strip, the Romney Marsh cottage market and the rural Kent Downs AONB. Loan sizes run £150,000 to £2.5 million, terms 6 to 18 months, completions in 7 to 21 days. Holiday-let bridging is unregulated investment lending; pricing sits 0.8 to 1.25% per month depending on rental evidence and the credibility of the exit.
- Decisions in hours
- Completion in days
- £150k to £25m
- Kent property focus
Kent · Kent
Bridge to your next move.
The asset class
What holiday let property looks like in Kent.
Holiday-let property covers self-catering coastal apartments and houses, converted properties marketed through Sykes Cottages, Kent Cottage Holidays, Airbnb and direct booking, larger holiday cottage portfolios held by single owners or small operators, and the small B&B and guesthouse stock that sits between holiday let and small-hotel. The income profile is seasonal, with peak summer-and-half-term rates running materially ahead of off-season, though Kent's relatively long shoulder season and the year-round visitor draw to Margate Turner Contemporary, the Folkestone Triennial cycle and Canterbury cathedral support a longer trading window than many UK coastal markets. Lenders read the rental evidence on a 12-month basis with a discount for void weeks and management costs. The asset reads as an investment property with a specialist income overlay.
Use cases
Bridging use cases for holiday let assets.
Holiday-let bridging cases in Kent cluster around four patterns. The first is purchase of a coastal apartment or house in Margate Old Town, Broadstairs, Ramsgate, Whitstable, Deal or Folkestone with the intention of marketing as a short-let, where the bridge funds the purchase plus a refurbishment to short-let standard, with the exit to a specialist holiday-let BTL mortgage once the rental evidence is established. The second is refurbishment-and-reposition cases where an existing holiday let is bought and upgraded to a higher rate band, with the exit to refinance at stabilised income. The third is capital raise against an unencumbered holiday-let portfolio held by an established operator, often to fund the deposit for the next acquisition. The fourth is conversion plays where a former office, mixed-use or even retail building in a Thanet, Shepway or Canterbury coastal town is bought and converted to multiple holiday-let units, with the bridge funding the purchase plus the works. Lenders care about location, rental evidence, the operator's track record and the realism of the holiday-let BTL refinance exit.
Kent context
Holiday-Let Demand from the Thanet Coastal Regen to the Kent Downs AONB
Kent holiday-let demand sits on a tourism base that is materially stronger than most equivalent UK county markets. The Thanet coastal regeneration story has driven a sustained surge in short-let demand across Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate, with Margate Turner Contemporary, the Old Town's independent restaurant and bar scene, and the Dreamland revival anchoring year-round visitor flow. Folkestone has emerged as a parallel coastal cultural destination through the Folkestone Triennial visual-arts cycle and the Creative Quarter redevelopment of the Old High Street and Tontine Street, supporting strong short-let demand across the harbour and Leas areas. Whitstable carries year-round visitor flow driven by the harbour, the seafood reputation and Whitstable Castle, with short-let stock pricing firmly across Tankerton, Harbour Street and the conservation streets behind the seafront. Deal and Walmer carry a quieter but firmly-priced coastal short-let market, with significant fashion-bolt-hole crossover demand from London buyers. Beyond the headline coastal towns, Romney Marsh supports a rural-cottage and farm-stay market that trades on staycation demand and proximity to the Channel coast. The Kent Downs AONB rural-cottage market carries strong staycation and weekend-break demand, supported by the walking, cycling and food-tourism narrative around the Kent vineyards and the Garden of England agricultural heritage. Sykes Cottages, Kent Cottage Holidays and the wider holiday-let agency network all have meaningful stock across this geography. Bridging lenders price holiday-let in the Kent coastal and rural catchments confidently where the borrower has rental evidence from a recognised agency or a credible projection.
Valuation and lenders
Valuation and lender considerations.
Holiday-let valuations come back on a residential comparable basis for the underlying property, with the holiday-let income recognised by some lenders for stress-test purposes on the refinance exit. Bridging lenders lend on the underlying residential value rather than any holiday-let investment uplift, with LTV caps sitting at 70 to 75% on stabilised holiday lets and 65 to 70% on conversion or refurbishment cases. MT Finance, Octane Capital, Roma Finance, LendInvest, Hope Capital, Octopus Real Estate, Together and United Trust Bank all take holiday-let bridging. Specialist holiday-let BTL lenders for the refinance exit include Cumberland Building Society, Furness Building Society, Hodge and the dedicated holiday-let products at Precise Mortgages and Kent Reliance.
What we arrange
What we typically arrange.
A typical Kent holiday-let bridge sits at £200,000 to £900,000, 70 to 75% LTV, 6 to 12 months term, 0.85 to 1.15% per month, arrangement fee 1.5 to 2%. Refurbishment cases include a works tranche. Exit is to specialist holiday-let BTL refinance, sale to an investor, or roll-up into a larger portfolio refinance. We work with holiday-let-specialist BTL brokers to package the refinance alongside the bridge so the exit is committed before drawdown.
FAQs
Holiday Let bridging questions
Can we bridge a holiday-let purchase in Margate or Broadstairs?
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Yes. The Thanet coastal short-let market through Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate is one of the most active parts of the holiday-let book, supported by Margate Turner Contemporary, the Old Town hospitality cluster and the year-round visitor draw. Lenders typically lend on underlying residential value at 70 to 75% LTV, with the holiday-let income recognised on the refinance exit rather than the bridge itself. Refurbishment to current short-let standard, including kitchen, bathrooms, soft furnishings and EPC works, is funded through the works tranche. Exit to specialist holiday-let BTL at 9 to 12 months is the usual route.
How do BTL lenders treat holiday-let income on refinance after a bridge?
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Specialist holiday-let BTL lenders recognise holiday-let income for stress-test purposes, typically requiring 12 months of trading evidence or a recognised agency projection. The exact rental cover and stress test varies by lender. We sequence the bridge so that by month 9 to 12 the trading evidence supports the refinance test cleanly. Where evidence is shorter, the lender pool narrows and the rate moves up, but the refinance is still achievable on the right asset.
What rate range applies to holiday-let bridging across the Kent coast and Kent Downs?
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Stabilised holiday lets with strong rental evidence and a clear refinance exit price at 0.8 to 0.95% per month at 70 to 75% LTV. Refurbishment and conversion cases price 0.95 to 1.2% per month at 65 to 70% LTV. Arrangement fees are 1.5 to 2%. Coastal locations with year-round tourism evidence such as Margate, Whitstable and Folkestone price softer than locations with a tighter seasonality pattern, reflecting the rental-cover comfort the refinance exit will need to demonstrate. Romney Marsh and Kent Downs AONB rural-cottage cases sit on staycation rental evidence and trade on a slightly longer void allowance.
Tell us about the deal
Indicative terms within 24 hours.
A short triage call, then a sized indicative offer against a named lender for your holiday let property in Kent or across Kent.
Regulated bridging on owner-occupied residential property falls under FCA regulation. Unregulated bridging on commercial and investment property does not. We are not directly regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and we introduce regulated cases to authorised partners who carry out the regulated activity.
Next step
Talk to a Kent holiday let bridging specialist.
We arrange short-term finance on holiday let property across Kent, the Kent County Council and Medway Council unitary area and the wider Kent market. Indicative terms in 24 hours.