Bridging industry loan books rise to £6.8bn in Q1 2023

The figures, compiled by auditors from data provided by members of the ASTL, show bridging completions passed £1.4bn in the first quarter of 2023, which represents an 11.8% increase from the December 2022 quarter.

Applications continued to rise, reaching £9.8bn in March this year, representing an increase of 13.1% compared to the quarter ending 31st December 2022.

The latest data from the ASTL shows that the value of loan books has also increased, rising by 4% to just over £6.8bn.

Despite the quarterly increases, applications dropped 0.9% when compared with this time last year (Q1 2022).

Vic Jannels, CEO at the ASTL said: “The somewhat indifferent performance of the economy has not affected demand for short term finance, which continues to demonstrate that it can provide a versatile source of funding during all economic cycles.

“Loan books have reached another record high of more than £6.8bn and applications have now shown an increase in each of the last five consecutive quarters.

“Given the ongoing challenging economic environment, it’s important that lenders continue to take a robust approach to underwriting to help ensure the market continues to grow in a cautious and sustainable way, so that it can help even more customers to finance transitional periods in the future.”