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Bridging business surges despite election uncertainty

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  • 05/05/2015
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Bridging business surges despite election uncertainty
The majority of bridging firms say that business has grown over the last six months, despite Bank of England figures showing that the mainstream mortgage market has dropped or remained largely static.

A survey carried out by the Association of Short Term Lenders (ASTL), showed that with the general election just two days away, members have been unanimously positive about business volumes over the next six months, with just 20% saying they had been negatively affected by election uncertainty.

Some 73% of ASTL members also expected their business to do better in 2015 than it did in 2014, while 27% felt that volumes would stay the same. None of the members surveyed expected a decline in business in 2015.

In contrast, when the last survey was conducted six months ago in November, over a third (35%) of the members were still sceptical of seeing growth in the market.

Today, bridging finance company West One Loans reported a boost to its loan book over the last four months of £50m, growing its portfolio to £200m. West One said it completed more than £80m worth of loans in the first quarter alone.

According to West One Bridging Index, annual gross lending in the sector now stands at £2.5bn.

Benson Hersch, CEO of ASTL (pictured), said lenders in the bridging market “remained incredibly positive”.

“With the ongoing shortage of supply in housing, purchasers need to make up their minds quickly so bridging finance will come into play for those who’ve not yet sold their existing property,” he said.

“As a result of this and a growth in the numbers of property developments, members are recording increased business volumes and this has kept confidence very high throughout the election build up. It will be interesting to measure this sentiment again over the next few weeks and months, when we know the results, to see what impact the election had.”

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