Paragon reports 29% rise in new lending

Total lending grew by 29% to £1.9 billion and included a 21% increase in buy-to-let mortgage lending, with completions reaching £1.4 billion.

The pipeline of buy-to-let loans in process at the year end was £604 million, an increase of 88% on the position a year earlier.

Paragon’s second charge mortgage operations also increased volumes with new origination levels up by 35% to £61 million.

Alongside mortgages, Paragon increased its commercial lending by 67% to £389 million, while savings deposits nearly doubled over the year to £3.6 billion.

John Heron, Managing Director of Mortgages at Paragon, said: “The buy-to-let mortgage market is changing as recent fiscal and regulatory interventions take effect, resulting in a much sharper split between small scale landlords and those with large and more complex property portfolios.

"Paragon’s long-standing approach is well aligned with these developments and is enabling us to support a growing proportion of customers with our specialist expertise as the market evolves.”