The inaugural Auction Finance Expo, organised by Bridging & Commercial in conjunction with Strettons Chartered Surveyors at The Grand Connaught Rooms on Monday July 9, involved a number of bridging lenders exhibiting in a bid to highlight the close relationship between buying properties at auction and bridging finance.

This week’s expo saw lenders including Masthaven Bridging Finance, Cheval Bridging Finance, Precise Mortgages and Bridgebank Capital lay out their stands in the Drawing Room next to the main auction area. They were available to answer any questions from potential purchasers and to educate investors.

Richard Deacon, Sales and Marketing Director at Masthaven, said: “Whilst the event was quieter than all expected, particularly in comparison to better attended auctions in the autumn, we had a number of extremely useful conversations with end users who were actively looking to purchase properties. They came up to myself and Claire Wasbrough (Underwriting and Operations Manager) with their enquiries and we had a captive audience who wanted to know how bridging could help them. It wasn’t only auction purchases they were interested in, a number of them were keen on our second charge propositions and our refurbishment products.

“I believe that education about bridging finance is very important, so overall it was a successful event which we would definitely attend again, particularly an auction during the September – October period.”

Strettons’ Philip Waterfield, who was behind much of the organisation of the auction itself, explained: “First of all, we recognise that it is a difficult market for funding at the moment, so bridging lenders are in a unique position to help those looking for finance. A lot of people looking to buy property cannot get mainstream funding at the moment so bridging lenders are, more and more, becoming the acceptable face of finance. We are pleased to be associated with bridging lenders, and if we at all felt they weren’t scrupulous lenders we wouldn’t associate with them.

“Exhibiting alongside auctions can provide a potentially lucrative opportunity for lenders too, as they only need to speak to two or three investors looking to raise finance in order to purchase property to make it worth their while.”

Caron Schreuder, Director at B&C, commented: “It is fantastic to be working alongside Strettons in this new venture which we feel will ultimately bring the connection between bridging lenders and auction finance closer. We are looking forward to introducing new bridgers at each auction and watching the expo grow into something of an institution within the industry.”

Praising the hard work that B&C and Strettons put into the event, Danny Power, Business Development Executive at Bridgebank, said, “From Bridgebank’s point of view the day resulted in a couple of enquiries which are being dealt with currently.”

Buyers at auction generally want to make a swift purchase, which is where, provided they meet the right criteria, bridging can be a perfect solution to liquidity difficulties.

Cheval’s Neil Molyneux added: “It was beneficial for us and other lenders to be there because of the strong correlation between auctions and bridging. It was important for us to be there and important for Strettons and we met some interesting people and interesting investors.”