Annual gross bridging lending jumped by 30% in the twelve months to the end of June with short-term lenders providing almost £2.8bn of finance on an annual basis, up from £2.1bn in June 2014 and the £2.7bn recorded in the 12 months to the end of April 2015.
Typical loan sizes grew in June with the average loan now £747,292, an increase of more than a third from the equivalent period last year.
Bridging loan-to-value ratios fell to 48.5% for the two months ending in June. However, this still represents a slight increase on the 47.3% averaged in the year to June 2014.
Average bridging interest rates have increased over the past couple of months with the typical rate for May and June standing at 1.20%, up from 1.10% in the preceding two-month period.
The annual change is much flatter, with an average rate of 1.16% for the year to June 2015, down from 1.17% for the twelve months previous.
Duncan Kreeger, director of West One Loans, said: “While their primary use may still be property, be it buying at auction, development, refurbishment or land purchase, short-term finance is also increasingly useful for business purposes, such as liquidity issues and tax liabilities.
“The annual gross bridging lending figures show a market that continues to go from strength to strength, but the onus is still on all of us in the sector to raise awareness and continue educating brokers as to when it may be of use.”
