Despite the first significant drop in month-on-month lending seen this year, August 2013 shows a monthly, year-on-year increase of 15.60% compared to August 2012, which stood at £34,675,253.
Matt Tristram, Director & Co-Founder of Loans Warehouse & Clearly Loans comments:
"It’s been a very interesting month for the future of secured lending, with the addition of big name individuals, one of the industry’s founders celebrating their 40th anniversary and lenders continuing to build their BTL offering."
Loans Warehouse announced recently that Michael Coogan, former director of the CML, would be joining the company as Strategic Advisor. Michael was asked why he felt that now was the opportune time for someone of his standing in the mortgage market to become involved with secured lending:
He said:
"The secured loans market is on the up and up. With rates starting below 6%, borrowers are increasingly recognising that their financial needs can still be met when they cannot remortgage or get a further advance from their mortgage lender."
"FCA regulation of consumer credit starts next spring. The second charge market's reputation will be enhanced by the move away from the Office of Fair Trading, and it will be even easier for mortgage advisers and second charge brokers to work in tandem for their clients' benefit."
"Loans Warehouse has been leading the way to promote the sector through its Secured Loan Index. I look forward to working with them on their new commercial initiatives to build profitable business relationships with select partners, and to help with the transition to the FCA over the coming months."
This month, one of the most established names in the secured loan industry, Norton Finance, will celebrate their 40th year. Paul Stringer, Loans & Mortgage Director and son of the founder of Norton Finance, shared his opinion on the current state of the secured loan industry and a prediction of what is to come from the broker and lender in the months to come.
Paul Stringer said:
"The growth seen in the secured loan sector this year in my view is the tip of the iceberg in relation to its future potential. This year will be our 40th year in the business and we plan to end the year by bringing some improved plans and products to the market. There has never been a better time to lend and with the increased demand as customers and brokers alike realising the benefits of a secured loan then now is the time to capitalise on this."
Probably the most impressive headline of the last few weeks was Shawbrook Bank exceeding £1bn in lending to SMEs and personal customers in the UK. This is the latest major landmark for the bank which launched less than three years ago and broke even after just 16 months. Whilst this figure reflects the lending of the bank as a whole, Shawbrook’s Secured Lending Team has also grown to be a huge success in the second charge market, achieving the largest market share just months after launch.
Philip George, Managing Director of Shawbrook Bank, said:
“The success of the team reflects the recent resurgence of secured loans and their increasing popularity in the market as more and more intermediaries realise the potential of a secured loan as a real alternative to a remortgage for raising capital."
"Shawbrook’s network of brokers has played a pivotal role in our success. From introducing clients to feeding back on products and processes, helping us to ensure that Shawbrook always offers the best possible service and products with a competitive edge”.
Shawbrook has also been ringing the changes on their residential and BTL ranges, having increased their tolerance for both drive-by valuations and use of Hometrack AVMs. More fundamental changes have also been applied to their BTL range; LTV has been increased to 70% and the risk score has been lowered whilst increasing the level of historic adverse credit that is now acceptable.
The 1st and 2nd October welcomes the launch of a new financial services exhibition. FSE 2013 will be held at Old Billingsgate and has already attracted some of the biggest names in UK financial services, but particularly a number of secured loan lenders. This will be the largest showing of secured lending at an event of this type since the credit crunch with lenders like Prestige Finance, Shawbrook Bank & Masthaven just a few of the names that have signed up – another positive sign for secured lending.
