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p>They often say that 63.2 per cent of all statistics are only 25.1 per cent accurate. I’m not 100 per cent sure of that, but it raises an interesting point about the buoyancy we’re seeing in the market at the moment.
Is it hype or are we really seeing the UK economy and the commercial finance sector starting to grow? Based on what I’ve seen throughout 2013, I’m more than very confident that specialist lenders are seeing an increase in business levels and the commercial and bridging sectors remain buoyant.
The UK Business Confidence Index hit a 10-year high this year with companies expecting growth. This can only be good news for brokers and lenders alike with more and more businesses looking to secure finance to grow and expand.
There has been uncertainty in the market over recent years as banks have exited the market and tightened their criteria on lending. Larger businesses are seeing lending flow from the banks, but small businesses aren’t benefitting from the trickle down, indeed the funding has all but stopped from the banks. But a lot of finance is coming from specialist lenders to help businesses get the cash flow they need, to acquire property and to buy stock.
With the help of specialist lenders, the commercial finance market has remained buoyant throughout 2013 and we have seen a strong upturn in demand for our commercial term loans, with volumes up by more than a third year on year. The average value of commercial term loans is also up by around a fifth on 2012, and demand for bridging loans has also increased on the previous period.
Our statistics at Lancashire Mortgage Corporation show that we have seen an increase in the number of applications for commercial finance from brokers for commercial mortgages, land finance, and first and second charge bridging finance. With a keen eye on the market we are always looking at ways to improve our product offering and help brokers place a deal suited to their clients.
Over the course of the year we have carried out two surveys to gain insight and listen to brokers and have used this research to tailor our products to match the needs of our broker partners. 84 per cent of brokers said that they have seen an increase in business on 2012 and commercial finance was one of their main areas of growth.
The increased confidence in the sector meant that this year we have launched innovative new products which, as a package, were the best overall range of bridging loans we’ve ever had along with some of our lowest ever rates starting from just 0.75 per cent and no exit fee.
So that’s enough statistics for one blog, suffice to say that if you were to lay all the statisticians head to toe, they wouldn’t reach a conclusion!
On behalf of Lancashire Mortgage Corporation I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and hope your 2014 is as successful as this year.
Blemain Group are celebrating our 40th anniversary next year and we would like to thank all of our broker partners for their continued support.
They often say that 63.2 per cent of all statistics are only 25.1 per cent accurate. I'm not 100 per cent sure of that, but it raises an interesting point about the buoyancy we're seeing....
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