One of the newer entrants into the bridging market has just announced that it achieved its record month in March – with five completions and more than £1.5 million drawn down by borrowers.

Jonathan Sealey, CEO of Hope Capital Ltd, which was set up to provide short-term property bridging finance, said: “March has been a fantastic month for Hope Capital in terms of bridging deals completed, and shows that we are serious about gaining traction in this emerging market whilst the banks continue to be closed to property developers and investors.”

He told B&C: “Hope Capital is a new start-up company in the bridging loan market, which has been operational for six months and completed its first deal in January of this year after only a few months of trading.

“I am proud of what we have achieved in this short period of time, and look forward to the next six months with baited breath.”

The five deals completed in March were located in Sussex, East Yorkshire, Merseyside and Lancashire. According to Jonathan, “They ranged from £55,000 all the way up to our maximum net lending amount of £500,000, which was, incidentally, based in our hometown of Liverpool. The total figure for the five loans was in excess of £1.5 million and all were for a term of between three and six months.”

He explained that he has been involved in property for more than nine years. “First I worked for a property development/investment company before moving down to London to work in private equity and venture capital. Bridging finance is a perfect merger of my career over the past nine years, and I was in the fortunate position to be able to start Hope Capital after looking into the market and honing the business model over a significant time period in order to get it right.”

With regard to innovation, Jonathan added: “Every loan we have facilitated for a client has been different, with some paying interest monthly, some rolling interest and fees into the term of the loan and paying on redemption, and some a mixture of the two.

“As we are the principle lender, although we have strict lending criteria, we can also look at each deal on its own merits. Being a Chartered RICS Development and Planning surveyor also means I can often look at some development or planning related cases from the borrower’s side of the fence in terms of realistic exit timescales and strategies. We see ourselves as entrepreneurial finance for property in an emerging and interesting market, and one where the banks are closed for lending where we are not.”

Explaining the geographical locations influencing Hope Capital’s lending choices, he said: “The deals we have completed to date have been from all around England, from the North East to the South West, so we don’t have a specific location in terms of geographical lending. If the numbers stack up, and the case meets our lending criteria, we will look at providing the client with a bridging loan which suits their requirements.”

By Miranda Atty