Can my limited company or SPV take the loan — and should it?

Yes — and for investment property, lenders often prefer it. A large share of the unregulated bridging we arrange completes through limited companies, usually a special purpose vehicle: a company set up to own one project, with no other trading history to complicate the underwrite. Clean structure, clean security, clean exit.

What the lender will ask of the company

A legal charge over the property, as always. A debenture — a floating charge over the company's assets — is standard for SPV lending, and personal guarantees from directors and significant shareholders are required by most lenders in most cases. That last part matters: the limited company does not put your personal position beyond reach. A PG means that if the company can't repay and the security falls short, the guarantors make up the difference. Read its scope, its cap and its release conditions before signing, and take the independent legal advice seriously rather than treating it as a formality.

Who's behind the company matters

Expect to disclose anyone holding roughly 25% or more — the standard threshold across the market as of July 2026. Lenders underwrite the humans — their credit, their experience, their other exposures — because the SPV itself is usually a week old with a balance sheet of £100. An offshore shareholder or a layered structure doesn't stop a deal, but it does narrow the lender pool and add identity checks, so declare it at the start.

Company or personal name?

That's a tax question wearing a lending costume. Interest relief, corporation tax versus income tax, extraction costs, stamp duty on the way in — the right answer depends on your circumstances, and it comes from your accountant, not from a lender or a broker. What we can say from the lending side: rates for SPV borrowing are now essentially the same as personal, the structure is familiar to every serious lender, and switching mid-deal is expensive. Decide the vehicle before you offer on anything.