Bridging applications hit record £5.96bn, but completions are down 13.1%
By Sam MonkBridging loan applications reached more than £5.96bn in Q1 2019, up 13.6% compared with Q4 2018, according to the latest research
The Association of Short Term Lenders (ASTL) revealed that applications in Q1 2019 increased by 6.9% compared with Q1 2018.
Other highlights from the ASTL’s research included:
- applications for the year ending March 2019 were £21.8bn
- bridging lender loan books reached £4.14bn in Q1 2019, an increase of 7.9% compared with Q4 2018, but slightly down on the same period last year (-1.2%)
- the value of completions during Q1 2019 (£898.5m) was 13.1% down on the same period last year, and down 17.5% on Q4 2018
- £92m of development loans were included in the figure for bridging completions
“For completions, this was the lowest result since Q3 2017,” said Benson Hersch, CEO at the ASTL (pictured above).
“On the other hand, the loan book total is the highest since Q1 2018 and the applications were the highest ever.
“We would expect this high value of [applications] to result in improved completions in Q2 2019.”
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