The index concluded that the bridging sector has been the beneficiary of increasing ‘professionalism’ from both lenders and borrowers.
Gross annual bridging lending increased to £5.6bn in the second quarter of 2019, according to the latest edition of the West One Loans Bridging Index.
The index concluded that the bridging sector has been the beneficiary of increasing ‘professionalism’ from both lenders and borrowers.
Additional findings revealed that rates were once more on the up hitting 0.95% versus the average rate of 0.94% in Q2 as clients trade profit for the certainty of finance that specialist lenders can provide.
Stephen Wasserman, managing director of West One Loans said: “West One has enjoyed a strong first half of the year, which has seen us completing some of our largest loans.
"Q2 started incredibly well for us as we were able to deliver two record months EBITDA for the lending business in April and May. This has been backed up by strong enquiry levels throughout the quarter, which were higher than we anticipated at the beginning of the year.
"With a few well-known lenders leaving the market, perhaps we are benefitting from strong demand shared amongst fewer lenders.
"Our average loan size was, naturally, boosted by some larger loans that we were able to complete at the beginning of this quarter, so we did see this fall as the quarter went on – but these look very healthy for us and the industry as a whole, which is positive news.
"I’m also glad to see it’s not been a ‘race to the bottom’ with rates, seeing a slight increase to 0.95% against the average rate of 0.94% in Q2.”
