# The refinance window: a date, not a status

> The refinance window is the period in which a short-term facility must be refinanced or repaid, computed from the completion date and the facility term rather than set by hand. A property is seasoned at six months, and the window turns urgent ninety days before the term ends. What kills a refurbishment is almost never the interest rate — it is arriving at the term end with no exit arranged.

- Source: https://www.lodeprop.com/blog/the-refinance-window-on-a-refurbishment
- Topic: Finance
- Published: 2026-10-20
- Updated: 2026-10-20
- Figures: computed from a worked example

Ask somebody what sinks a refurbishment deal and they will usually say the works overran or the rate was too high. Those hurt, but they rarely sink a deal on their own. What sinks a deal is the term end arriving with no exit in place — at which point the only options are an extension fee, a forced sale, or the lender taking the property. The refinance window exists so that the term end is never a surprise.

## Why is it a date and not a status?

Because a status is something a person sets and forgets, and a date is something the calendar enforces. A field that reads "refinancing in progress" tells you what somebody believes; a window computed from the completion date and the facility term tells you how long there actually is. The two diverge exactly when it matters — when the project is late and the optimism is highest.

### The window, computed from completion and term

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Seasoned | Six months from completion — most lenders will now refinance at the improved value |
| Open | Between seasoning and the urgent threshold — the time to arrange the exit |
| Urgent | Ninety days before the term ends — the exit must be in hand |
| Term end | The facility is due — extension, forced sale, or repossession if nothing is arranged |

## What does seasoning have to do with it?

Most lenders will not refinance at the improved, post-works value until the borrower has owned the property for six months — the seasoning period. Before that, a refinance is sized against the purchase price, which is the low point and usually will not release enough to clear the bridge. So the refinance exit the whole deal depends on is simply not available for the first half-year, and a deal underwritten as though it were is underwritten on an exit that does not yet exist.

## How does the window connect to the rest of the deal?

Directly. The refinance window is one of the exit matrix routes, and whether it is open or urgent feeds the deal's resilience. The net advance on the refinance facility decides how much of the bridge it clears and how much capital recycles out. And the works schedule has to finish with enough of the window left to arrange the exit — a project that completes its works the week the window turns urgent has left itself no room.

## What it changes

- The exit is arranged in the open window, not scrambled for in the urgent one.
- A deal is not underwritten on a refinance that seasoning makes unavailable for six months.
- The works schedule is read against the window, so completion leaves time to refinance.
- An extension fee is treated as the cost of a missed window, not as a routine line item.

The interest rate is a cost you can see coming. The term end is a cliff, and the refinance window is the guardrail — a date the calendar enforces, so the exit is arranged while there is still time to arrange it.

## Common questions

### What does it mean for a property to be seasoned?

That the borrower has owned it long enough — usually six months — for a lender to refinance against the current, improved value rather than the original purchase price. Before seasoning, a refinance is sized against the low point and often will not clear the bridge.

### When does the window become urgent?

Ninety days before the facility term ends. At that point the refinance or sale needs to be in hand, because arranging an exit from scratch inside ninety days leaves no room for a valuation or a lender's delay.

### What happens if the window closes with no exit?

The options narrow to an extension fee, a forced sale, or the lender taking the property. All three are more expensive than refinancing on time, which is the entire reason the window is computed and surfaced rather than left to memory.

## Terms used

- [net advance](https://www.lodeprop.com/glossary/net-advance) — The cash a lender actually releases at drawdown, after arrangement fees and any interest retained up front.
- [exit matrix](https://www.lodeprop.com/glossary/exit-matrix) — Every way out of a property costed side by side: sell, refinance and hold, rent, or assign the contract.
- [refinance window](https://www.lodeprop.com/glossary/refinance-window) — The period in which a short-term facility must be refinanced or repaid, computed from completion and the facility term.

## Sources

- [Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/544) — legislation.gov.uk. Which activities are regulated, including regulated mortgage contracts and credit broking.
- [Corporation Tax rates and reliefs](https://www.gov.uk) — HM Revenue & Customs (publisher's site; search the title there). The main rate, the small profits rate and marginal relief between them.
- [UK House Price Index](https://landregistry.data.gov.uk) — HM Land Registry (publisher's site; search the title there). Official movement in values, by local authority and property type.
- [Price Paid Data](https://landregistry.data.gov.uk) — HM Land Registry (publisher's site; search the title there). Every registered residential sale in England and Wales since 1995.

## Related

- [The exit matrix: a position, not a bet](https://www.lodeprop.com/blog/property-exit-matrix-sell-refinance-rent-assign) — Sell, refinance and hold, rent, or assign — every way out of a property costed side by side and after tax. A deal with one exit is a bet on that exit; a deal…
- [Net advance: what a bridging facility really releases](https://www.lodeprop.com/blog/what-a-bridging-facility-releases-on-day-one) — A facility is not a cash sum. Where interest is retained it is deducted at drawdown, so the net advance is smaller than the headline. A capital stack…
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_Window dates are computed by the Lode funding engine from the completion date and the facility term._