Almost anything with a title and a resale market. Houses and flats, obviously. But also the stock a mortgage lender won't touch: the flat with no kitchen, the fire-damaged terrace, offices, shops with flats above, warehouses, hotels, care homes, farms, land with planning, part-built schemes. Bridging exists precisely for property that doesn't fit the high-street template, so "unmortgageable" is a starting point here, not a refusal.
Condition is not the issue. Marketability is
A lender's real question is brutally simple: if everything goes wrong, can this asset be sold inside six months, and for how much? A wreck of a house in a strong postcode passes that test easily. A pristine specialist facility with three possible buyers nationwide passes it nervously, at lower leverage. This is why loan-to-value ceilings slide by asset type: roughly 75% on residential, 65–70% on commercial, and 50–65% on land depending on planning status, as of July 2026.
The awkward classes
Some assets narrow the lender pool sharply rather than closing it. Short leases, below about 60 years, spook valuers and term lenders alike, which also weakens your refinance exit. High-rise flats with unresolved cladding, properties with structural movement, agricultural ties, and anything with a sitting tenant on unusual terms all need the right lender rather than any lender. Japanese knotweed, once a panic, is now largely a management-plan conversation.
Second properties as security
Remember the security doesn't have to be the property you're buying. Charges over other assets you own, including your existing portfolio, can support the loan alongside or instead of the purchase, which is how cash-light deals get done.
Describe the asset warts-first. The surveyor will find the warts anyway, and a deal priced on the true picture completes; a deal priced on the brochure gets re-traded at week three, which costs more than honesty ever does.