Assetz Capital hits double milestone
Peer-to-peer lender Assetz Capital has reached a double milestone for lending, providing over £100m in bridging finance and a further £50m in SME funding, as the appetite for alternative forms of finance continues to rise across the UK.
Assetz’s strong performance has coincided with the development of the bridging loan sector in the UK. This form of finance has grown rapidly lately; according to EY’s market study, in the year to June 2017, UK gross bridging lending amounted to £4.3bn, with strong historical growth at a compounded annual growth rate of 26.1% since 2013.
Highlights include a refinance for Poplar Investments – a completed block of apartments in Belfast – which offers the potential of developing a longer term debt product with Assetz Capital. The company also provided a £320k gross loan to St Florence to assist with the refinance and refurbishment of an investment property running as a public house with letting rooms.
Assetz is also working with intermediaries and borrowers across other products such as buy-to-let and development loans. A recent example was working with Crystal Specialist Finance to securing a £1.7m mortgage on a new-start Surrey-based nursing home incorrectly valued as residential property two years’ previously.
Since launching in 2013, Assetz has provided alternative finance to businesses and property developers in the UK to support continued growth within the industry, lending in excess of £780m and funding 3,700 homes across the country.
Damien Druce, director of intermediaries at Assetz Capital, commented: “In recent years, alternative finance solutions have become more established and accessible for smaller businesses across the UK, acting as viable alternatives to bank loans. Bridging loans have increased in popularity, due to their speedy execution and convenient interest payments which are typically rolled up over term, rather than paid monthly. Likewise, SME loans hold benefits including flexible offerings and interest payments that can improve cash flow and working capital for smaller organisations.
“At Assetz, we are pleased to contribute to supporting SMEs across the UK with our flexible products. Whilst we have reached this impressive double milestone, we are still moving forward with plans to invest further capital. We’re constantly updating our product range to support the needs of business owners and remain committed to assisting SMEs and property developers that struggle to obtain funding through traditional means.”
