<
div>The bridging industry has witnessed a steady growth of 25 per cent since mid-2013, according to the latest West One Bridging Index.
This is in line with the significant stabilisation evident in the annual rate of growth in gross bridging lending since June last year, which averaged at 25.1 per cent.
West One Bridging figures showed that between March 2012 and June 2013, annual growth in bridging lending averaged 56.3 per cent. In that time, every individual growth recorded was varied from the average rate by at least 10 percentage points.
The bridging industry has witnessed a steady growth of 25 per cent since mid-2013, according to the latest West One Bridging Index..
As of 1st September 2014, gross annual bridging lending in the UK now stands at a new record of £2.23 billion.
In the preceding twelve-month period, ending 1st September 2013, annual gross lending stood at £1.83 billion.
Duncan Kreeger, Director of West One Loans, said: “In a world returning to economic hope, there will be even sharper demand for imaginative finance as we saw in a world paralysed by financial fear.
“So bridging lending continues to grow, and reaches a fresh record practically every month. But bridging is also securing a new, more reliable mode of expansion to fit a new, more professional and competitive industry.
The size of individual loans has grown slightly more gradually with average loan sizes now standing at £497,000 over the twelve months to 1st September, up 15.9 per cent from £429,000 in the previous twelve months.
Also, average loan to value ratios increased to a twelve-month average of 47.3 per cent and over the year to 1st September 2014, bridging interest rates averaged 1.17 per cent, according to the index.
Duncan Kreeger adds: “Success should be measured both in terms of the total size of the industry and the number of projects that bridging lenders support. Both are growing.
“Bridging loans are still covered twice over by the value of their security, and that doesn’t look set to change dramatically any time soon.
“With renewed prosperity and optimism, lenders must also temper the mood of expansion with caution. But today’s most successful bridging lenders cut their teeth in the recession and know how to manage risk.
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