Paul Wertheim, director of operations, said: “There’s a massive amount of development deals. We’re seeing a much larger amount at the moment and the rejuvenation of HMOS which went a bit quiet last year."
Mint Bridging are seeing more development deals and HMO deals.
The bridging lender also offers bridging finance, refurbishment loans, second charge loans and development finance.
Paul Wertheim, director of operations, said: “There’s a massive amount of development deals. We’re seeing a much larger amount at the moment and the rejuvenation of HMOS which went a bit quiet last year.
“After the stamp duty changes in March 2016, everyone did what they could but they have returned to the marketplace.
“The whole business has seen a huge increase this year. We recently hired two more underwriters to cope with that demand. This year we want to double our loan book from last year.”
Mint recently launched a price match guarantee on select products, which has so far proved popular but with rates as low as they are in the sector, Wertheim didn’t predict them to decrease further.
He said: “There’s a potential for more rate reductions but my gut feeling is it won’t happen. I think the majority of lenders have most got the best cost of funds they would get and going lower would be committing suicide. We still have to make a profit.
“Any competitor is good for the market because they bring new ideas and make sure the products and efficiency of other businesses remains efficient and improves. Some are just slashing rates and I don’t know have long that can sustain itself.
“I believe the smaller bridges may find it more difficult to keep up with the rates at the moment and with the service and speed and accuracy because they’re working on smaller margins than us.
“I think a lot would be on thin margins and if there’s a correction in the marketplace and they have a few bad loans, it could seriously hurt those firms. There may be some losing appetite to be in the marketplace.”
Wertheim, however, thought the bridging sector is looking positive, at least in the short term.
He said: “We’re in a state of flux and anything could happen to affect the property market and bridging sector. I’m confident in the short-term but no one knows what the long term future holds.”
