West One Loans predicts bridging sector will hit £1bn
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Bridging lender West One Loans is predicting the bridging sector will hit the £1bn gross lending mark by the summer of 2013.
The privately funded bridging lender says the growth will be driven by the housing shortage, the demand from property investors and buy-to-let investors and the lack of alternative funding on the high street - as well as the booming private rented sector and the professionalization of the industry.
The bridging market was worth about £700m a year in 2010. By the end of the first half of 2011, it is already being valued at about £750m a year.
The Association of Bridging Professionals has also shown the sector booming, albeit on a different scale. The trade body’s market report records the total value of loans completed by a sample panel of the brokers rising to £77m a quarter in June 2011 - suggesting total annualised lending of £306m.
Duncan Kreeger, chairman of West One Loans says: “The amount the industry is lending has grown significantly amount over the last six months. Conservative estimates suggest lenders are writing £750m worth of business every year at the moment, which is about 7% more than in the winter of 2010.
“There is no reason why the factors at work - including the growth in the private rented sector, strict lending criteria on the high street, and the professionalization of the sector will not continue to drive the bridging market. In those circumstances, the market will grow at a similar rate over the next two years.
“That will see us break the £1bn barrier by the summer of 2013. As a specialist provider of short term bridging finance, we are benefitting from the trend and to deal with the new business, we’ve had to ramp up our expansion and start hiring more staff. That will soon start to happen across the industry.”
West One Loans has appointed Jason Fantini as a BDM with a remit to develop new broker relationships outside of London.
He joins West One Loans from London based Bespoke Bridging Finance and has previously held senior positions within Barclays Bank for over 16 years.
Fantini will be joining current BDM Manish Babla in ensuring West One Loans is fully represented across the UK.
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