Aspen’s service praised and loan sizes questioned in broker survey
As part of its service excellence programme, Aspen Bridging has undertaken its first broker survey which has praised the firm’s performance but questioned its current maximum loan size.
In total 77 individuals responded, key results included the company’s service which was rated as excellent or good by 100% of respondents, with LTVs considered market leading or sufficient by 99%. Rates were considered competitive by 92% and procuration fees judged fair by 95%.
Importantly the business asked, ‘what do you think of our max loan size of £1.5m?’ Here 48% said that the figure was too low. At present the business has a maximum loan size of £1.5m for portfolios and £1m on single properties.
Chris Whitney and Callum Taylor at Enness wrote ‘best service provided by any lender by a country mile, however loan sizes are too small’.
Alex Vickery at Y3S agreed stating ‘best bridging lender I have ever used’ but went on to say the firm ‘need’s capacity to do bigger loan sizes’.
Ed Wylie at F4B also reported ‘great service but there would be more opportunity I feel with a larger max loan amount’.
Jack Coombs, director at Aspen Bridging, said: “Naturally we are delighted that our service excellence targets are all being achieved and widely recognised by the broker community, but of course we want to do more business and to meet our customer needs in terms of larger loans.
“We will be taking immediate action on this point, a meeting has been arranged with the executive directors where all the findings can be openly discussed and we will decide if our loan size criteria can be adapted.”
Last week Aspen Bridging revealed its time-based service excellence targets, which shows that the company aims to take the majority of business from enquiry to completion in just 3 to 10 days.
Given the right conditions – including immediate valuation and legal payment, no building surveyor, property access and quick response times from the clients and their solicitor – the decision is supported by figures showing 81% of cases are currently completed within 10 working days.
Since its inception in 2017, Aspen Bridging has forged a successful loan book and a burgeoning reputation for service excellence, speed and flexibility.
Key business attributes include one person per case, quick and accurate quotations, site visits from the experienced underwriting team to every property at valuation stage and completions from initial enquiry as fast as any in the industry.