9 in 10 brokers expect to increase bridging business

Hope Capital’s survey revealed that for more than half of the brokers who answered the survey, bridging already makes up at least 20% of their business, with one in 16 saying more than 80% of their business is bridging. 

And that level is set to increase, with nine in ten brokers saying they think the level of bridging business they do will rise over the next year. 

The survey also revealed that the part of the process that causes the most delays  is the speed of the client’s solicitor – with almost a third citing this as an issue. This was followed by collating information from the client, which is seen as the main cause of delays for 36% of brokers. Getting approval from lenders is an issue for one in five, as is the brokers’ own understanding of the bridging process - with 20% saying they have a lack of understanding or knowledge. 

Jonathan Sealey, CEO of Hope Capital said:

“Like any area of lending, there are areas that brokers would like to see improved, and we are keen to address these by always offering the fastest turnaround times and ensuring we are always transparent and flexible. The call for lower rates is likely to be a never ending one however. Rates, including our own, have dropped substantially in the past few months and bridging loans are up to 3% cheaper than they were a few years ago, but while it’s natural that brokers always want them to be lower still, bridging rates will never be the same as mainstream as every loan is underwritten manually. "

“Brokers are now turning to bridging lenders for a wide variety of reasons, often because the High Street is not offering the solutions they need or they are hoping for a more tailored service. At Hope, we have seen the level of lending increase significantly over the past year and, like the survey suggests, expect to see it continue to increase into 2018.”