According to the Bridging Trends Infographic produced for the second quarter of 2022 the total amount of gross bridging lending increased to £178.44 million – up from £156.77 million in the first quarter of 2022. An increase like this may be somewhat surprising considering the current economic climate here in the UK with inflation continuing to go up at an alarming rate. It is interesting to see that the average monthly interest rate has reduced to 0.69% in Q2 of 2022 compared to 0.71% in Q1 of 2022. There is no doubt a great deal of competition for bridging finance in the UK so this may be th ..read more

As you may be aware, on the 17th March 2022, the Bank of England increased the base rate from 0.5% to 0.75% here in the UK. This is the highest interest rates have been since pre-pandemic days and will have a significant impact on both businesses and individuals at a difficult time with rising costs such as gas and electric bills, the cost of many foods, council tax and the price of petrol and diesel at forecourts. The rise in the base rate has resulted in increased borrowing costs for many individuals such as higher mortgage repayments, loan repayments, credit card bills, overdrafts to name b ..read more

A few days ago the Bank of England increased the Bank Rate from 1% to 1.25% – a rise of 0.25%. A small increase but one of several we have seen in recent months. Interest rates have been increasing to try to curb inflation that is on the rise. The cost of many things have been going up such as domestic and commercial gas and electricity prices, food and the cost of fuel at petrol stations to name but a few. It has been forecast that inflation could exceed 11% towards the end of this year. It is also predicted that interest rates could rise to as much as 3.5%. So, how could higher interest rate ..read more

According to figures published by the Bank of England, the amount of net borrowing for residential mortgages in the UK was £7.0 billion in March 2022. This was a big increase when compared with the figure for February 2022 when the figure was £4.6 billion. Gross lending also increased from £26 billion in February 2022 to £26.5 billion in March 2022. This is only a modest increase. Gross repayments dropped from £21 billion in February 2022 to £19.7 billion in March 2022. The number of mortgage approvals in February 2022 was 71,000 compared to 70,700 in March 2022 – a modest reduction. Remortgag ..read more

According to figures published by the Building Societies Association (BSA) there was a large increase in the total gross amount lent for residential mortgages here in the UK in 2021 when compared with the previous year. Below we provide some of the statistics that you may find of interest but more details can be found on their website. In 2021, the total gross amount lent for such borrowing amounted to £313,158 million whereas in 2020 the figure was £245,716 million. That is a significant increase. Monetary financial institutions (building societies and banks) made up for £282,281 million of t ..read more

According to the most recent Bridging Trends infographic there was a big increase in the total gross bridging lending in 2021 when compared with 2020. This is perhaps not surprising as, for a time last year, we saw an improvement as the pandemic eased somewhat. In 2021, the total gross bridging lending amounted to £626.69 million as recorded by the financial institutions taking part in the above infographic. In 2020, the figure was £455 million so a significant increase was seen last year. The average term for a bridging loan in 2021 was 12 months with this being the same as in the previous ye ..read more

You may well be aware that, to try to deal with inflation, the Bank of England recently increased the base rate from a record low of 0.1% to 0.25%. So, will this small increase have any impact upon how much you are charged for your borrowing here in the UK? If you have an overdraft facility for your business account then it is likely that the cost of any borrowing you incur on that liability will increase. If you have a business loan or commercial mortgage that is on a fixed rate then it is unlikely you will see a change to your repayments during the period of the fixed rate borrowing. If your ..read more

Many years ago, if you wanted a mortgage to help buy your first or subsequent home, you would get in contact with a building society where you might have had a savings account for a few years to build up sufficient funds for a deposit on a property. You would arrange an appointment with the building society manager and complete a paper application form and provide supporting documentation such as pay slips. If approved, a valuation would be arranged, a solicitor instructed and weeks later completion would take place and you would move into your new home. The following statistics produced by th ..read more

According to figures published by UK Finance, the amount lent to small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) on a gross basis dropped in the second quarter of 2021 when compared with the first quarter of 2021 here in the UK. In Q2 the amount totalled £5.2 billion whereas in Q1 of 2021 the figure was £7.6 billion. This was the lowest seen since the start of 2014. Interestingly, in the six months to 30th June 2021, the total gross amount lent amounted to £12.8 billion whereas in the six months to 30th June 2020 the amount lent amounted to in excess of £40 billion. One of the reasons for the differe ..read more

According to the Bridging Trends infographic, there was a large increase in gross bridging lending in the third quarter of 2021 when compared with the previous quarter here in the UK. In the third quarter of 2021, total gross bridging lending amounted to £190.24 million compared to £146.52 million in the second quarter of 2021. Perhaps one of the reasons for this may be due to borrowers being more confident about the pandemic feeling that we are gradually coming out of it. The average loan to valuation (LTV) in Q3 of 2021 amounted to 60.2% compared to 54.9% in Q2 of 2021. This statistic may co ..read more