Second charge lending hits decade-high: FLA

Lending totalled £105m in September over 2,355 new agreements.

Over the past 12 months, the total number of new agreements reached 27,092 - the highest figure seen for a decade.

Fiona Hoyle, interim director general of the FLA, said: “The second charge mortgage market reported another month of double-digit growth, with the latest annual new business volumes reaching more than 27,000, a decade-high.

“Second charge mortgages are proving to be a popular product with consumers. While the market has returned a strong performance so far in 2019, new business volumes remain well below pre-crisis levels.”

Geraldine Kilkelly, head of research and chief economist, added: “September saw consumer finance new business grow by its strongest rate since October 2018, with growth across each of the main finance products.

“Our latest research suggested that UK new consumer credit overall was expected to grow by 3.4% in 2019 as a whole, and by a similar rate in 2020.”