As Masthaven Bridging Finance is an active lender across the whole of England and Wales, the Welsh market is becoming very important to us and is starting to make a significant contribution to our overall business.

I was employed to develop our presence in the South West, Wales and the Midlands. During my time at Masthaven - and at previous organisations - I have been fortunate enough to establish some interesting Welsh connections and develop a number of productive business relationships in the country. 

Certainly, when you cross the Severn Bridge and head into South Wales on the M4, there are a number of experienced bridging finance specialists located in and around Newport, Cardiff and Swansea who are well-known nationally. They usually provide volume business and can be found on the panels of a number of mortgage networks. 

There is much more to Wales, however, than these three civic centres. By venturing further west and north and into the centre of the Celtic heartland, numerous excellent opportunities exist for short term finance.

In areas such as Barry, Monmouthshire, The Vale of Glamorgan, Bridgend, and Carmarthenshire there are a number of bridging packagers and brokers who provide good quality business to Masthaven. Some of these experts, who may be located away from the main centres, have business models built upon a strong network of local brokers and provide a personal level of service, with which they add value and make a real difference to deals.

Travelling into mid- and North Wales brings opportunities from brokers located in Aberystwyth, Wrexham, Llandudno and even across to the border. Enquiries from brokers in these areas are usually for substantial properties – typically purchased at auction - or involve clients who wish to downsize.

Our experience is that the Welsh market is a vibrant and diverse one, providing lenders with fantastic opportunities to increase their presence in the residential, commercial and development sectors. 

While transaction numbers have yet to recover to their pre-crunch levels, this year, during July to September, house prices have shown an increase of 1.9 per cent nationally, with Cardiff and Newport experiencing an even bigger percentage growth. Furthermore, investors seeking good yields have benefitted significantly, especially in the university towns and cities.

Our experience of bridging finance in Wales this year has seen an increase in the number of enquiries for our commercial and development finance products in or near major Welsh towns and cities. In other locations, we have seen a notable demand for second charge bridging, most notably for business purposes. The biggest increase in both loan size and volume, however, has been for our first charge residential regulated bridging product, particularly in the South Wales M4 corridor.

As an FSA regulated, multi award-winning lender, we have maintained our focus this year on honesty and integrity with all of our intermediary partners in Wales, and have provided a range of market-leading rates to help them deliver solutions to their clients. 

Our aim in 2013 is to build upon our values and increase our market share, and we welcome the opportunity to talk with you about how we can make bridging finance easy.

I would like to take this opportunity to say ‘Diolch’ to everyone one who has supported Masthaven this year and “Nadolig llawen a blwyddyn newydd dda!”