Its survey of brokers reported that £1.61bn of gross lending was completed in the 12 months to March and that further advances were expected in the next year.
It found that property-related loans accounted for almost 80% of the industry and that this proportion had remained steady despite the growth in business borrowing.
Over half (57%) of brokers said that they expected interest rates to fall during the rest of the year although 7% envisaged a rise by the end of 2013.
West One’s Duncan Kreeger said: “Bridging is providing small businesses across the UK with over £1 million in finance every day. It’s no surprise that we’re outpacing the government’s business bank – we’ve been expanding our lending to these sorts of small, locally important firms for years now.
“This industry’s doing what the high street has failed to do since 2007. Bridging finance is expanding at a steady double-digit pace – and at the same time it’s becoming more affordable for our customers.”
