Bridging hits £3.5bn mark
By Tom BelgerGross annual bridging lending broke through the £3.5bn mark in 2015, according to the West One Bridging Index
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Gross annual bridging lending broke through the £3.5bn mark in 2015, according to the West One Bridging Index.
It estimates that the annual lending figure translates to £13.9m worth of transactions each working day last year.
Duncan Kreeger, Director of West One Loans, said: “2015 was a brilliant year for the bridging sector, with an explosion in demand for short-term finance.
“This pace of growth looks set to continue into 2016, as we expect to pass the £4bn milestone in the not too distant future.
West One said growth in the short-term finance market had been fuelled by permitted development rights, an increase in the number of properties sold at auction, flexible underwriting and a greater appetite for lending on commercial projects than the high street banks.
It also expects incoming regulation from the EU’s Mortgage Credit Directive to lift growth further.
Duncan added: “As the demand for fast finance looks set to rocket, an increasing number of borrowers will turn to bridging in 2016.
“Brokers who have previously never considered short-term finance for their clients are finding it increasingly harder to ignore.”
West One also found that the size of the typical bridging loan had risen to £984,000 in December, up from £747,000 six months earlier, as multi-million pound deals become increasingly common.
Despite this growth, it said the bridging sector is worth approximately 1.5% of the traditional mortgage sector which was valued at £220bn in 2015 by the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
Keywords: Bridging Finance, Commercial Finance, Bridging Lender, Commercial Lender, Alternative Finance, West One Loans, Duncan Kreeger, Council of Mortgage Lenders
Source: Bridging & Commercial — https://bridgingandcommercial.co.uk/bridging-hits-163-3-5bn-mark