YBS Commercial doubles lending to £600m

The firm said that its customer base value had increased to £1.5bn, and this was a record in new lending for the commercial lending arm of Yorkshire Building Society.

The company said that the results came at a point when demand for the private rented sector was soaring, but landlords were “facing significant challenges” in terms of funding availability, affordability and upcoming regulations.

YBS Commercial added that support for the private rented sector came to £413.2m.

It noted that it had made £115.7m in commercial investment lending in 2022. This covers industrial property, retail property and the retail industry.

The lender said that £260.9m was handled by the London and the South East team, £127.6m from the Midlands, £77.6m from the Wales and South West team and the North team accounted for £43.1m.

YBS Commercial attributed its success to “propositional and pipeline efficiency improvements”, such as the launch of its portal, criteria changes and service enhancements.

It added that there was an “ongoing focus on recruitment, strengthening regional teams to make sure its relationship directors are available wherever brokers need them”.

YBS Commercial: ‘2022 a real turning point’

Tom Simpson, managing director for YBS Commercial Mortgages, said: “2022 was a real turning point for us in terms of realising our ambitions to help more landlords and small businesses to thrive in a challenging market.

“With 90 per cent of customers and brokers rating our relationship directors as very effective, I’m absolutely delighted with the long-term, stable funding we’ve been able to provide to the commercial market to date through our regional hubs, which sit at the heart of our business.”

He continued: “We have plans to deliver even more this year and beyond, with more than £0.75 billion available in funding, allowing us to support more clients who need us, with a continued focus on providing our award-winning personal service.

“In 2023, we’re focused on product development and analytics to determine further market opportunities, broker and client support, and customer journey improvements. It’s a very exciting time for us as a business.”