Yes, it is possible to convert a bridging loan into a mortgage and this is very common once the bridging loan has come to maturity after 12 or 24 months. Bridging loans are often used to purchase properties under tight deadlines or bridge the gap between the purchase and sale of something.
But in other scenarios, they are used to carry out renovations and construction work on a residential or commercial property and once this is completed, the borrower might want to convert the bridging loan into a standard mortgage and continue to live in the property or convert it into a buy-to-let mortgage so that they can rent the property out to tenants.
Why Would I Want To Convert My Bridging Loan Into a Mortgage?
Bridging loans serve a useful purpose and can help move things along quickly such as house purchases or construction work. But bridging finance is designed to be short term and you should have a strong exit plan from day one.
Not only will your bridging loan expire after 12, 18 or 24 months, you will need to have an exit plan and converting the loan into a mortgage is a common one, as well as selling the property (flipping it) or refinancing with the bridging loan.
Overall, there will be a big saving on interest since bridging loans are around 12% APR per year (1% per month) compared to a mortgage which today might be around 5% APR.
You also have extended repayment terms with mortgages, to repay over 3, 5 or 25 years if you prefer, with the option to fix rates or remortgage in coming years.
Furthermore, with bridging loans, there is always this fear of repossession lurking over your head if you have not cleared or repaid the loan in full by a certain time. For peace of mind, converting a bridging loan to a mortgage might be very convenient since it might be spread over 10 or 25 years instead.
How Do I Convert My Bridging Loan Into a Mortgage?
Very simply, you can convert a bridging loan to a mortgage by applying with a mortgage broker, like you would with any other type of mortgage. You would explain your current situation and how much you have left remaining from the bridging loan, your equity in the property, your income, credit score and all other documents – and then the mortgage broker will check your eligibility across the market.
The mortgage broker will hopefully be able to present you different offers, including fixed-rate, variable-rate, tracker mortgages and different LTVs based on your existing situation.
How Is The Bridging Loan Paid Off?
Once the mortgage application is approved, signed and submitted, the mortgage lender will use the funds to pay off the bridging loan to the specialist lender.
You may have to check that there are no early repayment penalties for paying off early since this is often applicable – such as 1% of the overall loan amount. For more information, see what happens if you cannot repay your bridging loan.
The transferring of payments is typically handled by your solicitor.

Your solicitor will assist in the transferring of funds from your mortgage to pay off your bridging loan
How Long Might Converting a Bridging Loan To a Mortgage Take?
Mortgages can take a few weeks or even months to be approved and completed. You might be more familiar with bridging loans which only take 2-4 weeks to be approved.
Since late fees and penalties can apply for bridging loans that are overdue, it will be sensible to access your mortgage options well in advance and give yourself several months to get rates and plan ahead. For many property developers and investors, they would usually plan to convert to a mortgage by day one and have the offer and funding lined up or in line with their construction work.
Bridging lenders will charge penalties for late repayment, including one-off fees and rolling fees of 1%-2% per month and this can be very costly.