A recent United Trust Bank poll revealed that nearly 6 out of 10 brokers operating in the bridging sector believed that most lenders’ credit policies would remain broadly similar for the next 12 months. However, around 3 in 10 expected some lenders to tighten their credit policies and that’s perhaps unsurprising given uncertainty in the UK’s residential property market, an economy which is still finding its feet, faltering wage growth and the fact that Brexit is just eight months away.
UTB has built its reputation on being a dependable, through-the-cycle lender. We consider every proposal on its merits and use our knowledge and experience to put together a funding solution that suits the needs and requirements of the customer. We continue to invest in our business, improving our internal processes to make our service even slicker and expanding our reach to brokers across England and Wales. This is a time of opportunity, if you choose to see it that way.
The combination of an expanded BDM team, competitive pricing, professional sales support, specialist underwriting and several product tweaks including lower minimum loan sizes and AVMs, have had a dramatic effect on our enquiry levels and business volumes.
The next set of ASTL statistics are likely to show further growth in the bridging sector over the first half of 2018, and we’re confident UTB’s year on year figures will show a considerable outperformance. For example, a 75% increase in new enquiries and offers issued, an 86% increase in loans drawn and a 60% increase in the number of loans on our book. Does that sound like a lender tightening its credit policies?