Second charge returning to normal as lending doubles in Q4 – Loans Warehouse

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  • 12/01/2021
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Second charge returning to normal as lending doubles in Q4 – Loans Warehouse
The second charge lending market is effectively at business as usual, with broker firm Loans Warehouse predicting a return to pre-pandemic volumes in the first three months of 2021.

 

According to the firm’s index, second charge lending doubled in the final three months of 2020 compared to the three previous, with December totalling £66.8m.

Although this was a £13.4m decrease on November 2020, Loans Warehouse said the figure was only two per cent lower than December 2019.

The 1,672 completions in December were also a 18 per cent decrease on the number in November 2020.

“In a confident sign of how secured charge lending has adapted over the last 10 months, we can now confidently state it’s business as usual in lockdown three for all lenders who were active at the end of 2020 – including several who are even predicting growth at the start of 2021,” it said.

“We would even go so far as to continue to predict that Q1 of 2021 will see lending volume return to pre-pandemic levels as several lenders plan to release new product ranges in January and offer significant pricing decreases.”

Average completion time across the industry dropped to 11 days, it added.

The broker firm uses its own data and that from eight major lenders in the sector to produce its index.

 

What brokers want

Perhaps surprisingly, despite being an increasingly popular search for advisers according to Knowledge Bank, the proportion of loans being completed for debt consolidation remained unchanged at 74 per cent.

However, the criteria search engine found advisers were most commonly searching for the maximum loan to value (LTV) on second charge products.

This demand has been reflected in the market as more lenders increase the LTVs available.

For example in December, Together increased its maximum LTV to 70 per cent across its second charge mortgage products, the highest equity it has lent to since March 2020.

 

Rember appointed

Loans Warehouse has also appointed Nick Rember to the newly created role of secured loan operations director, which he will take up on 18 January.

Rember was previously director of operations at second charge lender Prestige Finance, which was part of OneSavings Bank but was closed down prior to its merger with Precise.

He joined Prestige in September 1988 and became operations director in November 2014, two years after Prestige Finance was purchased by OneSavings Bank.

Matt Tristram, co-founder of Loans Warehouse, said: “We’re all excited about Nick’s recruitment. He has great pedigree and will add vast experience in all areas of lending that will help us grow the business over the next few years.”

Rember added: “I have dealt with Loans Warehouse since they were formed and seen them grow to become one of the leading secured loan brokers in the country.

“I am hoping that my experience and knowledge of the secured loans business will help continue to grow the vibrant business that has been built up over the years.”

 

 

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