A question I’m frequently asked is: “Just how big is the bridging loans market?” In common with many of my peers and colleagues, I tend to stumble over my reply managing something along the lines: “Well there are no definitive figures, you understand, but anecdotally we believe it’s somewhere in the region of £1 billion to £1.5 billion in new lending each year. Oh, and we think there are about 100 or so active lenders.”

“In the region of…”, “anecdotally…” and “we think there are about…” - all vague, loose phrases that hardly inspire confidence in the veracity of my reply. But does it matter? Well, yes, I happen to think it does. Rather a lot in fact. Perhaps not so much when offered to a casual observer in response to a polite but generally disinterested question; but certainly so when the question comes from a potentially-valuable new client looking to learn more about a sector hitherto something of a mystery.

It also matters to an increasingly-engaged and interested media. It matters too to the regulatory authorities as they map out the future framework for de-risking the financial services sector. Being unable to provide a succinct, consistent and verifiable figure regarding something as straightforward as market size leaves us looking amateurish, incompetent and even shifty. I don’t like that because it isn’t true.

On the positive side, we’re making progress - albeit slow and rather clunky - in this important area. Late last year, the Association of Short Term Lenders (astl) published its first report on lending. Compiled and aggregated from submissions made by 21 (out of 22) of its current lender members, it provides valuable insight as regards the activities of the sector’s leading players. The astl has committed itself to future reports on a regular basis.

Another trade body, the Association of Bridging Professionals (AOBP), has for some time now published its own monthly market report showing, in league table form, individual lender performance. Never pretending to be a definitive piece of work (it relies on data from a very limited number of packager/distributors), it nevertheless provides useful insight into sector trends and month-on-month movements. Recognising the limitations of its report, the AOBP has said it intends making improvements in the near future.

Elsewhere, a number of short term lenders have made their own stab at producing performance figures for the bridging market. Some have been a little random in their focus, compilation and conclusions. Others, while professionally (and expensively) produced, have attracted negative comment for their perceived hubrism and implied declarations of infallibility. Many battle-hardened brokers also see them for the naked exercises in lazy PR they may well be.

But credit where it’s due: there does appear to be momentum towards creating for the very first time a reasonably definitive and credible set of figures to size our market. I say reasonably because I don’t believe we can ever achieve a totally accurate figure. To do so would require the co-operation of that amorphous group we call the ‘private funders’. It exists for sure, but very much in the shadows. It also isn’t negligible contributing over £13 million of funding - or nearly 33 per cent of all lending - according to the AOBP’s latest Market Report. Getting the privateers to play ball is, frankly, stuff of fantasy.

I’m therefore pinning my hopes on the astl to make its statistical output the key one on which we all come to rely. As members ourselves, we at Omni Capital are committed to providing regular, monthly updates for the Association’s use. In common with our fellow members, we wouldn’t be comfortable at this point in time seeing our individual data published - and the astl has no plans to do so - but we certainly have no objection to our data being used in aggregated form, nor should any other member.

In time we may reach a point similar to that of the mortgage market where members of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) routinely provide data across a range of indicators and consent to its publication on an individual lender basis. In doing so, the CML becomes a respected custodian of industry statistics and the go-to point for all manner of agencies and opinion-formers. It may be some way off for bridging yet, but it’s the benchmark to which we should aspire.