Secured lending hits another milestone in July

June’s figure was a slightly lower-than-expected £41,994,482 but the longer month of July has proved positive with lending figures jumping up by 10.2% to £46,305,181.50.

July 2013 shows a monthly year on year growth of 44% compared to July 2012 figure’s of £32,000,000 – in 2013 it took until October to lend as much.

Matt Tristram, director of Loans Warehouse & co-founder of Clearly Loans, comments:

"Despite the continued growth, new figures released by the FLA earlier this month show that the number of repossessions in Q2 of 2013 continues to be at an all-time low, just 183."

Geraldine Kilkelly, Chief Economist at the FLA, said:

“While the volume of repossessions has risen in the second quarter from a very low base in 2012, the possessions rate has actually fallen from 0.08 per cent in Q1 2013 to 0.06 per cent in Q2 2013.”

Despite the size of the sector, the secured loan industry is one of the few financial areas where the broker has the responsibility for instructing and paying for a valuation.

The much reported valuation issues of recent months have seen appointment times for London and some Home Counties in particular taking weeks, even months in the worst affected areas.  This has led to some of the industry’s surveying firms using the situation to increase valuation fees.

However, several secured loan lenders, including Prestige Finance, have started to accept the use of desktop valuations for the first time, whilst other lenders are turning to smaller valuation firms for improved service levels.

The lenders within the secured loan sector are continuing with their desire to lend more. Since last month’s Index, Equifinance have relaxed their property restrictions and begun lending on flats, Blemain have reduced their minimum time in employment and Shawbrook have demonstrated once again that they listen to their brokers by simplifying their products.
 
Lenders are showing that they can be flexible. Not everything can be written into criteria; if a deal makes sense for the lender and the client, then secured loan lenders are happy to make exceptions to ensure a deal completes.

Stuart Aitken, Chief Operating Officer of Masthaven Secured Loans, commented:

“This is a fantastic accolade to receive at such an early stage of our development. The biggest challenge to any new lender is to provide great service and keep doing that as the business grows. Other aspects of our offering, such as competitive rate and product options, are much simpler to achieve. Whilst we may not yet be one of the largest lenders in the market, this award is confirmation that we are providing excellent service, and gives us a great foundation on which to build the business."