Specialist lender Together today announced it has provided more than £103m in short-term commercial finance in just a month.
The finance company’s latest figures reveal it provided more than 260 bridging loans worth £103.6m in April – a 17% increase on its previous record of £88m set in July 2021.
Together, which provides regulated and unregulated bridging finance as well as commercial and residential mortgages and has a loan book of more than £4.4bn.
A spokesman for the finance company said the record lending was, in part, because of a number of “larger loans” – worth £5m and above – during the period and an increased use of technology speeding up transactions.
Sundeep Patel (pictured), director of sales, said: “The demand for short-term finance is continuing to soar across the industry, despite continued global uncertainties and financial pressures on individuals and businesses post-Covid. Our latest lending figures certainly reflect this.
“We’re finding that, while traditional lenders are tightening their criteria and scaling back from providing finance, the demand from potential clients such as SMEs, property developers, landlords and investors is growing more than ever, particularly for loans of £5m-plus.
“We have the largest ever loan book in our near 50-year history, rising application numbers, a strong pipeline for unregulated bridging products and, in addition, we’ve made technological advances, meaning that we can use AVMs for over 70% of our loans, meaning the process can be quicker and cheaper for brokers’ clients.
“Together has long been known as one of the most trusted and respected specialist sales teams in the UK. We have a fantastic track record of delivering finance quickly when required, thanks to our expert underwriters and strong relationship with our solicitor partners at Priority Law.”
He added: “It’s clear that bridging finance has taken up an invaluable role in the commercial finance brokers’ toolkit, allowing them to support clients achieve their property ambitions.”
The latest available figures from trade body the Association of Short-term Lenders (ASTL) have revealed a growing trend in the popularity of bridging finance of £12.7bn in the quarter ending December 2021 – an increase of 65.4% on the previous quarter, which in itself was a record.
