MFS secures £150m funding line to target stamp duty rush

The cash will used for funding its bridging lending as the firm targets the vanilla part of the market as the race to meet the stamp duty holiday deadline takes hold.

MFS said the additional credit line followed a significant increase in enquiries for bridging loans from property investors who are keen to meet the 31 March cutoff.

It noted that forecasts have suggested hundreds of thousands of transactions could be at risk of missing the deadline.

CEO Paresh Raja argued that some lenders were failing to meet their promises to brokers and clients.

“Brokers and borrowers are crying out for certainty, with many having been let down by other lenders when trying to complete on a deal,” he said.

“What’s more, the end of the stamp duty holiday is fast-approaching, and buyers want to take advantage of this tax break – they can only do this by having access to loans that can be deployed in days, not months.

He added: “Many lenders do not have the funding lines or expertise in place to meet this demand.

“This has resulted in some lenders overpromising and underdelivering, putting thousands of property transactions at risk of collapsing.”