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Straight Answers · Bridging finance
Peak debt vs end debt in bridging finance
Bayley Clarke · Mortgage broker on the road · Reviewed 24 August 2026 · 4 min read
The short answer
Peak debt is essentially the total amount that you need to be able to buy the next property before you’ve sold your current property.
So if you’ve got an existing mortgage on your current place, it would be that plus the amount required to buy your new place, as well as any costs involved, because effectively you don’t have access to the money in your property just yet. Your end debt is how much of that debt is left over once you’ve sold your current place. That’s what you’re expected to be able to make repayments on over the next 30 years.
The 70 second version. Everything below is the detail underneath it.
Two numbers, one loan
A bridging loan is one loan that changes size. On the day you settle the purchase it’s at its biggest: the loan you already had, plus the whole price of the new place, plus the costs of buying it. That’s the peak. The bank is funding the entire purchase because the money in your current home is still locked up in bricks. When your old place sells, the proceeds come off the top and the loan drops to whatever is left on the new home. That’s the end debt, and it’s the loan you actually live with.
| Selling for $700,000 with $300,000 owing, buying for $900,000 | Amount |
|---|---|
| Existing loan on the home you’re selling | $300,000 |
| Price of the home you’re buying | $900,000 |
| Purchase costs (placeholder for stamp duty and fees) | about $50,000 |
| Peak debt while you own both | $1,250,000 |
| Sale proceeds come off | $700,000 |
| End debt on the new home | $550,000, plus any interest added during the bridge |
Illustrative numbers, not a quote, and the costs line depends on your state and price. The thing to notice is the gap between the two bold rows. The peak is more than double the end debt. Every decision a lender makes about a bridge comes back to which of those two figures it’s prepared to lend against.
Which number the lender tests you on
Here’s the part that decides whether a bridge happens at all. Some lenders assess your income against the peak debt, as if you were going to carry $1,250,000 for 30 years. For most households that answer is a flat no, and it has nothing to do with whether the move makes sense. Other lenders assess you on the end debt, the $550,000, on the basis that the peak only exists for a few months and the sale clears it. A few sit in between: end debt plus the interest the bridge will add before the sale.
When a lender tests the peak and the answer is no, the way through is usually savings. Show cash set aside that could cover repayments during the bridging period, or sit there as a buffer if the sale takes longer than planned, and a lender that wouldn’t lend the peak on income alone will often lend it on income plus that buffer. It’s the single most common thing that turns a declined bridge into an approved one.
| How the lender assesses you | Figure tested | What usually gets it over the line |
|---|---|---|
| Against the peak debt | $1,250,000 | Income high enough to carry both, or savings shown as a repayment buffer |
| Against the end debt | $550,000 | Ordinary servicing on the loan you keep, plus a credible sale plan |
| End debt plus bridge interest | $550,000 plus the interest added during the bridge | Same as above, with a conservative sale figure and timeline |
Same household, same two properties, three different answers depending on the lender. Which is why “can we get a bridging loan” is never a yes or no. It’s “which lenders test the number we can actually pass.”
What moves the end debt
The peak is fixed the day you settle on the purchase. The end debt isn’t. Three things push it around, and all three run in the same direction.
| If this happens | Peak debt | End debt |
|---|---|---|
| The sale fetches $650,000 instead of $700,000 | Unchanged | $600,000, up by the whole $50,000 shortfall |
| The interest is added to the loan instead of paid monthly | Unchanged | Up by every month of interest until the sale |
| The sale takes nine months instead of three | Unchanged | Up by six more months of added interest, if it’s capitalised |
Illustrative again. The lesson is that the end debt you plan on and the end debt you get can be different numbers, and the difference lands on the loan you keep for 30 years. Build the plan on a conservative sale price and a slow campaign, and anything better is upside.
Four things that catch people out
- Costs are in the peak. People add the two prices together and stop. Stamp duty, legal fees and the rest go on top, and on a $900,000 purchase that’s a five figure number the bank has to fund too. Leave it out and the peak is wrong before you start.
- The end debt still has to service like a normal loan. A bridge doesn’t suspend the rules. Whatever is left after the sale has to be affordable on your income over the full term, and that test applies whichever figure the lender used to approve the bridge.
- Savings do more than income here. An extra $40,000 of income won’t get most people over a peak debt test. $40,000 sitting in an account as a repayment buffer often will. If you’re planning a buy-first move, that balance is worth protecting for a few months.
- The bridging window is part of the maths. Most lenders allow somewhere between six and twelve months to sell. The longer it runs, the more interest is added and the bigger the end debt, so the timeline isn’t a detail, it’s an input.
What to bring, and what to ask
Your current loan statement, the price you’re buying at and a conservative sale figure give me both numbers in about two minutes. Your savings balance and payslips tell me which lenders would test the peak, which would test the end debt, and whether the buffer you’ve got is enough to matter.
Then the question isn’t “what’s our peak debt.” It’s “which figure does each lender test us on, and which of those can we pass.” That answer is the whole difference between a bridge that’s available to you and one that isn’t.
This page describes how bridging and simultaneous settlements generally work as at August 2026. Individual lenders aren’t named on purpose: bridging terms move, and the right structure depends entirely on your situation rather than on a list in an article. The other bridging answers on the list: buying and selling on the same day, repayments during a bridge and whether you have to sell before you buy.
Want the two numbers before you make an offer?
Send me your loan statement, the price you’re looking at and what you think the sale will fetch, and I’ll come back with the peak debt, the end debt and which lenders would test you on which one. Takes maybe ten minutes and it costs you nothing.
No application, no credit check, nothing on your file. Just the numbers.
Next question
Do I have to sell my current home before I buy the next one?Bridging is what makes buying first possible. This is when it’s worth it, and when selling first is the better call.
Related answers
Do we need a bridging loan if buying and selling on the same day? Do I make repayments during bridging finance? Why doesn't my equity count as borrowing power?Got a question this page didn't answer? Send it to me and it goes on the list.