Property type: MOT & Automotive
MOT and Automotive Bridging Loans Wiltshire
We arrange bridging finance against MOT and automotive property across Wiltshire, from the MOT bays and independent garages of Devizes through the Bradford-on-Avon workshop stock, the Swindon Stratton industrial automotive estates and the franchised dealership stock along the M4 and A303 corridors. Loan sizes run £200,000 to £5 million, terms 6 to 18 months, completions in 10 to 21 days. Automotive bridging is specialist underwriting; pricing sits 0.9% to 1.4% per month depending on operator covenant, trading evidence and the credibility of the exit.
- Decisions in hours
- Completion in days
- £100k to £25m
- Wiltshire specialists
Wiltshire · Wiltshire
Bridge to your next move.
The asset class
What mot & automotive property looks like in Wiltshire.
MOT and automotive property covers MOT testing stations, independent garages and workshops, franchised car dealerships with showroom and forecourt, bodyshop and paint facilities, tyre-and-exhaust centres, and specialist automotive trade-counter and parts distribution. Each sub-segment carries its own valuation methodology. Independent garages and MOT stations trade on workshop bays, MOT licence class and customer-base evidence. Dealerships trade on showroom configuration, brand-franchise terms and forecourt size. Bodyshops trade on spray-booth capacity and insurer-approved status. Specialist trading-asset underwriting drives the case.
Use cases
Bridging use cases for mot & automotive assets.
Automotive bridging cases across Wiltshire cluster around four patterns. The first is purchase of an MOT station or independent garage from a retiring proprietor, where the bridge funds the purchase pending refinance to term commercial debt or asset-finance restructure. The second is purchase of dealership premises where a franchise change or a sale-and-leaseback is in train, with the bridge funding the property purchase separately from the trading business. The third is change-of-use plays where a tired automotive site in a residential or mixed-use area is bought, the use-class is changed, and the site is redeveloped for residential or small mixed-use. The fourth is capital-raise against an unencumbered automotive freehold held by a long-term operator, often to fund the next site or to release working capital. Lenders care about the trading evidence, the operator's covenant and the realism of the exit at stabilised operation.
Wiltshire context
Automotive Trade Across Bradford-on-Avon, Devizes and the Swindon Stratton Estates
Wiltshire automotive trade clusters along the main arterial roads and across the larger town industrial estates. Bradford-on-Avon carries a tight cluster of independent garages, MOT bays and small bodyshops serving the western Wiltshire residential catchment, with the workshop stock typically in older industrial buildings on the edge of the town. Devizes carries multiple MOT bays and independent garages across the Hopton Industrial Estate and the smaller workshops around the town centre, plus the related parts-distribution and trade-counter stock that supports the rural-vehicle catchment of the centre of the county. The Stratton St Margaret and broader Swindon Stratton industrial automotive estates carry the densest run of MOT stations, independent garages, tyre-and-exhaust centres and bodyshops in the county, serving the Swindon residential population and the M4 commercial traffic. Larger franchised dealerships sit along the M4 corridor at Swindon, Royal Wootton Bassett and on the A303 corridor around Amesbury. The defence-sector vehicle servicing base supporting the Salisbury Plain garrisons at Tidworth, Larkhill and Bulford supports a specialist commercial-vehicle servicing market that runs separately from the consumer-car trade. Lenders read the location and the trading evidence together; an MOT station on a busy arterial road reads very differently from one on a quiet side street.
Valuation and lenders
Valuation and lender considerations.
Automotive valuations come back on a trading-business basis for going-concern operators, on a vacant-possession basis where the property is being marketed without the trade, and on an alternative-use basis where redevelopment is the play. Lenders lend on the lower of the relevant figures with a haircut for specialist single-use risk. LTV caps sit at 55% to 65% on trading automotive with strong evidence, 50% to 60% on vacant stock, and 60% to 65% on as-is value where the case is a clear redevelopment play. MT Finance, Octane Capital, Hope Capital and Together all take automotive on bridging, with Shawbrook, OakNorth and Cambridge & Counties stronger on the larger franchised-dealership cases. Environmental ground-condition reports are commonly required given historical-use risk.
What we arrange
What we typically arrange.
A typical automotive bridge across Wiltshire sits at £300,000 to £1.5 million, 55% to 65% LTV, 9 to 15 months term, 0.9% to 1.3% per month, arrangement fee 1.5% to 2%. Redevelopment cases include a monitored works tranche and often run longer to allow for planning resolution. Exit is typically refinance to term commercial debt, sale to an operator, or sale of redeveloped residential units on a change-of-use exit. Environmental reports add 2 to 4 weeks to completion timelines on most cases.
FAQs
MOT & Automotive bridging questions
Can we bridge an MOT station purchase from a retiring proprietor?
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Yes. MOT-station purchases from retiring proprietors are a regular part of the automotive book across Wiltshire, particularly in Devizes, Bradford-on-Avon and the Swindon Stratton estates. Lenders need trading accounts, MOT-licence class confirmation, equipment schedules and a clear operator-succession plan. LTV typically caps at 60% to 65% on the lower of trading-business value and vacant-possession value. The exit is usually refinance to term commercial debt at 12 to 18 months once the new operator has rebased trading evidence under their own name.
How do lenders treat environmental contamination on automotive sites?
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An environmental ground-condition report is required on almost every automotive case given the historical-use risk from fuel storage, oils and solvents. Lenders price for any identified contamination and the remediation cost. Where the site is clean or where contamination is well-contained and the remediation cost is quantified, the case progresses normally. Where contamination is material, the LTV caps drop and the rate moves up. We work with environmental consultants familiar with the site-screening process before going to lender.
What does a change-of-use redevelopment look like for an automotive site?
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The buyer acquires a tired automotive site in a residential or mixed-use location, secures planning consent for redevelopment to residential or small mixed-use, and the bridge funds purchase plus the demolition and early works. Remediation of any contamination forms part of the works programme. The exit is typically refinance to development finance for the build phase, or sale of the site with planning to a residential developer. Total term 12 to 24 months is typical depending on the planning and remediation timeline.
Tell us about the deal
Indicative terms within 24 hours.
A short triage call, then a sized indicative offer against a named lender for your mot & automotive property in Wiltshire or across Wiltshire.
Regulated bridging on owner-occupied residential property falls under FCA regulation. Unregulated bridging on commercial and investment property does not. We are not directly regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and we introduce regulated cases to authorised partners who carry out the regulated activity.
Next step
Talk to a Wiltshire mot & automotive bridging specialist.
We arrange short-term finance on mot & automotive property across Wiltshire, from Salisbury and Swindon out to the west Wiltshire market towns. Indicative terms in 24 hours.