Bridging lending

Gross bridging lending falls during Q3




Gross bridging lending declined to £142.75m during Q3 2017, down 4.9% compared with Q2 2017 (£150.07m), according to the latest data from Bridging Trends.

However, this figure represented a 2% increase on Q3 2016 (£140.49m).

Regulated transactions accounted for 42.9% of bridging transactions during the quarter, down from the 46.1% recorded in Q2 2017.

The number of unregulated loans rose to 57.1% of all lending, up from 53.9% in Q2.

The average completion time in Q3 increased by four days, as service and resource levels were impacted by annual leave.

Mortgage delays regained its place as the most popular reason cited for obtaining a bridging loan in Q3, contributing to 31% of all lending.

This reversed the second quarter blip which saw refurbishment purposes citied as the most popular reason for a bridging loan.

Joshua Elash, director of bridging finance lender MTF, said: “Unregulated bridging loans continued to outperform regulated bridging loans.

“With the implementation of the Prudential Regulatory Authority’s rules relating to the treatment of portfolio landlords, this upward trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future as an increasingly larger number of professional property investors will consider bridging finance when purchasing a new property which they otherwise intend to refurbish and sell.”

First charge lending in Q3 remained solid at 82% of the market, while second legal charge lending increased for the second consecutive quarter, rising to 18% from 17.2% in Q2 2017.

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