"These changes are all about delivering what brokers and their clients value most – speed, certainty and reliability"
- Andrew Ferguson - United Trust Bank
United Trust Bank (UTB) has introduced a new desktop valuation option and expanded its automated valuation model (AVM) criteria across its bridging finance range, with the aim of delivering faster application-to-offer timelines and greater certainty for brokers and their clients.
The desktop valuation sits between AVMs and full physical inspections, covering purchases, refinances, light refurbishment projects, and capital raising on standard residential properties. It gives brokers a middle-ground route where a full inspection would be disproportionate but an AVM alone is not appropriate.
Alongside this, UTB has relaxed minimum AVM confidence levels across all LTV bands. AVMs are available on bridging finance loans up to £1m at a maximum of 75% LTV, and the updated criteria are expected to substantially widen the pool of eligible cases. Around one-third of UTB bridging cases used AVMs in 2025. That proportion is expected to double to approximately two-thirds this year.
The changes form part of a broader push by UTB to reduce friction across the bridging process. The bank has also streamlined its underwriting requirements, cutting turnaround times in half compared to 2025.
"These changes are all about delivering what brokers and their clients value most – speed, certainty and reliability," said Andrew Ferguson, commercial director, mortgages, BTL and bridging at United Trust Bank (pictured).
"We are constantly looking at ways to remove drag and delay from the bridging process and make it quicker and easier for brokers to do business with us. Expanding the use of AVMs and introducing desktop valuations gives brokers more routes to a faster offer, greater certainty at an earlier stage, and a significantly quicker and more assured path to a successful completion."
