Loans Warehouse launches into regulated bridging

It comes as part of the firm’s expansion, which has seen it move from a primarily second charge specialist into other sectors including unregulated bridging.

The broker said the ability to operate in the regulated bridging market would allow it to further increase its product range.

Loans Warehouse co-founder Matt Tristram (pictured) said: “As a business, we have been diversifying our offering over the past few years as we look to build on our core proposition whilst meeting increased consumer demand for other products.

“We’ve made no secret of our intention to secure regulated bridging authorisation, having spoken about it since the start of 2019, and the time provided by lockdown and the resulting slowdown in lending has allowed us to meet that goal.

“We’ve moved into several new sectors over the past 18 months and the move into regulated bridging is just another example of our commitment to our customers and the industry during this difficult time.”

Bridging recovery

Despite bridging volumes falling by more than half in the second quarter of 2020 and by 45 per cent over the first half of 2020, as reported by the MTF index last week, Tristram said the market was showing positive signs of recovery already.

“Lockdown and the restrictions on physical valuations especially made the market almost impossible to lend for all but a handful of lenders but with house prices and demand remaining strong as we enter Q3 we are already seeing much stronger results,” he continued.

“Throughout this time one of the most prominent lenders and supporters of the broker market has been United Trust Bank.

“We’re delighted to announce them as the first addition to our regulated bridging panel,” he added.

UTB commercial director for bridging Gavin Diamond said: “Loans Warehouse has built an excellent reputation as leading introducers in the secured loans and unregulated bridging market and I’m delighted that we’re now able to be the first to work with them directly on regulated bridging too.

“They’ve been one of the most proactive brokers during the pandemic, which has strengthened our relationship even further.

“We look forward to working closely with them to provide quick, competitive, and flexible regulated bridging solutions.”