Stephen Wasserman, MD of West One Loans, says the market "is robust" after the short-term bridging finance provider reported a new record month, with £62m lent in June.
This has contributed to current total bridging lending breaking through £400m. This prompted to say: “June was another record month for us, with £62m provided to fund both residential and commercial property loans. The market is growing and remains active, with a solid base of transactions in the market-place, suggesting it’s in a robust position.
"Nevertheless, the slower growth than previously means the sector remains highly competitive. In spite of that, we have seen a significant rise in requests for our specialist financing and are committed to providing tailored and flexible funding solutions. We’re proud to be able to help so many borrowers."
The company has enjoyed strong growth at a time when the wider bridging market has been showing moderate expansion, resulting in increased market share within the bridging sector. In June alone, West One completed more than 70 transactions, leading to a landmark month and beating the company’s previous high of £53m delivered in November 2016.
A broad mix of business contributed to this figure, including both a range of regular cases and one-off large requests for funding, as well as a mix of residential and commercial activity.
The record month comes as West One recently announced it will be launching a second charge term-lending mortgage range in Q3 this year, as part of broadening their reach into other areas of the specialist lending arena.
The company’s success outstrips the bridging sector itself, which is experiencing a period of more moderate growth than in recent years. West One’s own Bridging Index showed gross annual lending grew steadily to £4.2bn in Q1, following a significant drop in the latter part of last year after the EU referendum vote, with this gentle growth anticipated for the remainder of 2017.