Following on from the latest West One Bridging Index showing that the industry is issuing nearly £50m of short-term finance every week to create an annual gross lending figure of £2.5bn, West One’s own figures show they are contributing a significant percentage of this, with £30m of completions in February alone.
Stephen Wasserman, director of West One Loans, said:
“We wrote more than £80m worth of business in the first quarter of this year. It’s a big start to the year and reflects not only our success but also the continued growth of the industry – the market is also now three times bigger than in March 2011 when West One launched the Bridging Index.
“The reputation of bridging continues to improve and borrowers and introducers alike are more aware of the options on offer. High street banks still appear reluctant to do their bit to finance the recovery and lenders like West One Loans are picking up the slack. Meanwhile, the macro-economic picture is favourable and our borrowers continue to be confident in the market’s outlook. Those factors have combined to create a great environment in which to do business.
“January and March have been good months but February was exceptional. We’re written a remarkably wide range of loans since the start of the year, from a couple of £30,000 deals at one end of the spectrum to multi-million pound deals at the other. This goes some way to demonstrating the flexibility of our approach.”
