Bridging Finance News Round-Up | 13–17 April 2026

By Bridging Loan Directory 17th April 2026

It’s been another active week across the UK bridging finance and specialist property lending market, with a strong mix of deal completions, lender appointments, product updates and market insight.

Highlights included multiple bridging completions across residential and commercial assets, new product launches from Aspen Bridging, and continued investment in teams across lenders including Pluto Finance, Recognise Bank and Hampshire Trust Bank.

This week on Bridging Loan Directory we published 20 stories covering bridging finance deals, lender appointments, product launches, market updates and specialist finance insight.

Here’s your full weekly digest.

People Moves

Pluto Finance appoints Darius Shekarrizi as Lending Director for Bridging
Pluto Finance has strengthened its bridging leadership team with a senior appointment.

Glenhawk appoints Ryan Brewer as BDM for North and Scotland
Glenhawk has expanded its regional broker coverage.

United Trust Bank appoints Johnathan Kempson as Key Account Manager for Bridging and BTL
UTB has strengthened its intermediary relationships team.

Recognise Bank appoints Luke Watson as Director of Intermediary Sales and Lending
Recognise Bank has made a senior appointment to support intermediary growth.

Masthaven appoints Chris Parr as Head of Sales and strengthens bridging team
Masthaven has strengthened both leadership and wider team capacity.

Paragon Development Finance appoints Simon Powell as Relationship Director
Paragon has added further relationship management expertise.

Hampshire Trust Bank strengthens bridging underwriting team
HTB continues to invest in underwriting capability to support deal flow.

Deal Activity

Aspen Bridging completes £4.1m bridge-to-let loan for Surrey development
The facility supports a development transitioning into long-term rental.

Arc & Co completes £4.6m commercial finish and exit bridging loan in Essex
The loan supported a commercial asset through to exit.

HFBS completes urgent rescue bridging loan over Easter weekend
A time-sensitive bridging loan was completed over the holiday period.

London bridging loan achieves 100% interest coverage for first time in 10 years
A notable milestone was achieved in a London-based bridging transaction.

Industry News

Hope Capital rejoins NACFB as Patron
Hope Capital has rejoined the NACFB as a patron lender.

BDLA and Interpath launch 2026 bridging market survey
The survey aims to capture trends across the bridging market.

Raw Capital Partners reports strong Q1 for UK mortgage launch
Raw Capital has reported strong early performance following its UK launch.

Allica Bank reports record 2025 results with profit up 34%
The bank has reported strong growth across its lending operations.

Aspen Bridging launches spring offer with free valuation and legals
Aspen has introduced a new incentive-led product offer.

Nivo launches AI agents to help lenders and brokers package cases faster
Nivo has launched AI tools aimed at improving efficiency in deal packaging.

Opinion

Bridging is shifting from acquisition to exit — here’s why
Tony Sanchez, Founder of Bridging Loan Directory, explores how bridging finance is increasingly being used as an exit strategy rather than purely for acquisition.