Auction Finance in London
Buying at auction in London means funding the purchase to a deadline the auction house sets, not one you choose. CoreFi is a commercial finance broker, and we match London buyers, principally limited companies, to bridging lenders who complete on those timescales. Loan-to-value, rate and speed depend on the lot, your exit and which lender has appetite for it, so treat any figure here as a starting point, not an offer.
Allsop, the country's largest property auction house, runs residential and commercial sales out of London several times a year. What comes under the hammer is distinctive: flats with leases too short for a mainstream mortgage, large ex-local-authority blocks, mixed-use parades with a shop below and flats above, and probate houses untouched for decades. An unconditional sale binds the day it happens, deposit down immediately, completion due in around 28 days, a timetable no conventional mortgage process meets.
That gap is what auction finance fills. CoreFi is a commercial finance broker, not a lender. We take the lot you are bidding on, work out what a lender will need to see, and put the case to the ones on our panel whose criteria and speed actually fit. We do not decide who lends or on what terms; that sits with the lender.
- 1
Send us the lot before you register to bid
Share the legal pack, the price you expect to pay, your deposit and how you plan to exit, sale, refinance or lease extension. Doing this ahead of the sale means the finance is shaped to the deadline rather than found in a scramble afterwards.
- 2
We put the case to lenders who actually complete on time
We work through our panel for lenders whose appetite fits the asset, the postcode and your exit, and package the file so it lands in front of them ready to assess rather than needing chasing.
- 3
Win the bid, then race the clock together
Once you have won the lot, valuation and legal work start immediately. How fast that moves depends on the lender, the valuer and the solicitors, which is why the groundwork happens before the gavel falls.
The short-lease trade, and why London runs on it
A flat with fewer than 80 years left on the lease is difficult to mortgage conventionally and sells at a discount as a result, which is why short leases are one of the most consistent categories at London auctions. The buyer completes with bridging, serves notice under the statutory lease extension process once they have owned the flat long enough, or buys where the seller has already started that process, and refinances or sells once the extended lease is in place. It is a genuine arbitrage, but it only works if the bridge, the extension timetable and the eventual exit are planned together rather than worked out after completion.
Ex-council blocks, mixed-use parades and probate stock
Beyond short leases, three other categories turn up constantly in the London catalogues. Large ex-local-authority blocks bring service charge history and building-safety questions that some lenders will not touch and others price routinely; a cladding flag on a tower can rule a lot out for one lender and barely register with another. Mixed-use parades, a shop with flats above on a high street from Walthamstow to Streatham, need a lender comfortable splitting commercial and residential risk in one security. Probate and receiver sales are usually sound structurally but need real money spent before they are lettable or saleable.
The legal pack decides the deadline more than the lender does
Bidders assume the lender is the bottleneck on speed. In practice the legal pack, tenure, title, leasehold consents, restrictive covenants, does as much to set the pace, and it is available before the sale, not after. Reviewing it in advance, alongside an early read from a lender on whether the asset and exit fit their book, is what protects a deposit on a London lot. Inner-London lot sizes run larger than the national average, widening the pool to lenders with bigger minimum loans, but narrowing it again on anything with unresolved leasehold or safety issues.
What a lender checks, and what CoreFi actually is
A bridging lender underwrites the security first, property type, tenure, condition, location and loan-to-value against the price paid or an open-market valuation, then the exit, a refinance once a lease is extended or works are done, or a straight resale. CoreFi is a trading name of JG Core Ltd; we broke this finance as a commercial finance broker to limited companies, which does not require FCA authorisation, and we do not present ourselves as FCA authorised or regulated. We introduce your case to lenders on our panel; the lender makes the credit decision, and nothing here is a promise of approval or a specific rate.
Frequently asked questions
How fast does auction finance actually complete in London?
Traditional unconditional sales usually require completion within 28 days, and bridging lenders are built for that window. What decides whether you hit it is mostly the legal pack and the valuation, so getting both moving before the auction gives you the best chance.
Can I get an indication from a lender before I bid?
Yes. We can put the lot to lenders ahead of the sale so you bid knowing the asset and your exit broadly fit. Nothing is confirmed until a lender formally offers after valuation, but it removes most of the guesswork.
Will a lender fund a flat with a short lease or in an ex-council block?
Some will, some will not, and cladding history narrows the field further on larger blocks. We place the case with lenders who actually have appetite for that stock, rather than testing it against whoever is easiest to reach.
Do lenders lend against what I paid or what the property is worth?
It depends on the lender. Many use the lower of price and an open-market valuation; some will lend against the higher figure where you have genuinely bought below market, reducing the cash needed to complete. Which basis applies is the lender's call.
Does CoreFi guarantee approval?
No, and no broker honestly can. We package the case and put it to lenders whose criteria fit, but the decision, the rate and the loan-to-value all sit with the lender and depend on the property, your exit and their appetite that week.
Is CoreFi FCA authorised?
We arrange unregulated commercial finance for businesses, principally limited companies. That kind of broking to limited companies does not require FCA authorisation, and CoreFi, a trading name of JG Core Ltd, does not claim to be FCA authorised or regulated.
Get matched with lenders for your London business
Tell us what your business needs and we will match you with lenders whose criteria fit. No obligation, no cost to start the conversation, and a straight answer about what is realistic for your situation.
Get matched with lenders