Property type: Holiday Let
Holiday Let Bridging Loans Sussex
We arrange bridging finance against holiday lets and short-stay property across the Sussex coast and South Downs hinterland. The Rye Citadel cottage market, the Brighton seafront short-let trade, the Hastings Old Town regen apartments, the Eastbourne and Bexhill conservation-seafront stock, the West Wittering, Climping and Camber Sands beach-house belt and the Glyndebourne-season Lewes-edge cottage market all generate consistent holiday-let bridging cases. 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
- Sussex bridging desk
Sussex · Sussex
Bridge to your next move.
The asset class
What holiday let property looks like in Sussex.
Holiday-let property covers self-catering coastal apartments and houses, converted properties marketed through Sykes Cottages, Holiday Cottages, 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 across most of the county, though Brighton seafront and the Rye and Hastings Old Town markets carry a stronger year-round trade than the more conservation-led Eastbourne, Bexhill and Wittering 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 Sussex cluster around four patterns. The first is purchase of a coastal apartment or cottage 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 Rye Citadel cottages, Brighton seafront flats, Hastings Old Town apartments and Eastbourne and Bexhill conservation-front terraces all see this pattern regularly. 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 West Wittering, Climping and Camber Sands beach-house market drives a steady run of these. 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 is bought and converted to multiple holiday-let units, with the bridge funding the purchase plus the works. Glyndebourne-season cottage stock around Lewes BN8 and the South Downs hinterland generates a niche premium-let market that supports refurbishment cases at the higher end. Lenders care about location, rental evidence, the operator's track record and the realism of the holiday-let BTL refinance exit.
Sussex context
Holiday-Let Demand from Rye Citadel to West Wittering Sands
Sussex holiday-let demand sits across several distinct micro-markets. The Rye Citadel cottage market in TN31 trades on year-round visitor demand drawn to the cobbled streets, the Mermaid Inn, the proximity to Camber Sands and the 1066 country trail through to Battle and Hastings; small period cottages let consistently across the year and command premium nightly rates. The Brighton seafront short-let market across BN1 and BN2 trades on year-round tourism, language-school flow, conference business, weekend break demand and the city's reputation, with apartments along the seafront and through Kemp Town letting strongly. The Hastings TN34 Old Town has been through a regen story that has lifted the holiday-let trade, with the seafront apartments and Old Town cottages drawing weekend and short-break visitors. The Eastbourne BN21 and Bexhill TN40 conservation seafront carries a quieter, longer-stay holiday-let market supported by the Towner Eastbourne, the De La Warr Pavilion and the conservation seafront tone; visitors skew older with longer stays. The West Wittering and Climping coast in PO20 and BN17 carries a premium beach-house market with strong summer demand and visitor flow from London and the home counties, while Camber Sands in TN31 drives weekend and family holiday demand to small beach-front properties. The Lewes-edge holiday market through BN7 and BN8 spikes during the Glyndebourne opera season, with high-end cottage and country-house stock letting at premium rates. The South Downs National Park, the High Weald and the East Sussex hinterland through Battle and across to Rye support a year-round rural cottage market through Sykes Cottages and similar agencies.
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 holiday-let bridge sits at £250,000 to £1 million, 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 at Rye Citadel or Camber Sands?
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Yes. Rye Citadel cottages and Camber Sands beach-front properties are a regular part of the holiday-let book. 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. Rental evidence from Sykes Cottages or a similar managing agency strengthens the refinance case considerably.
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 Sussex coast?
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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 Brighton seafront, Rye Citadel and Hastings Old Town price softer than locations with a tighter seasonality pattern, reflecting the rental-cover comfort the refinance exit will need to demonstrate.
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 Sussex or across Sussex.
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 Sussex holiday let bridging specialist.
We arrange short-term finance on holiday let property across Sussex, covering East Sussex Council, West Sussex Council and the Brighton & Hove unitary area. Indicative terms in 24 hours.