BREAKING NEWS from Loans Warehouse - Secured Loan Index reveals November’s secured lending figures up 12.4% on previous year
09 February 2015
Whilst November showed a dip in lending compared to a record breaking October, the figures continue the trend of increased monthly year-on-year lending, now standing at an amazing 36 consecutive months.
With an uplift of more than 10% compared to November 2013, the industry has now lent almost £100,000,000 more in 2014 than the previous year – and we still have December to go.
Matt Tristram, Co-Founder & Director of Loans Warehouse, comments:
“Something that has become a trend of late is seeing lenders continue to make improvements to their product offerings and the last month has been no different.
Both Blemain Finance and Central Trust have reduced their rates and simplified their criteria. Nemo Personal Finance have reduced rates whilst introducing 2 large-loan plans and increasing the availability of AVMs. Paragon Personal Finance have expanded into the Scottish secured loan market and Shawbrook Bank have launched two new plans, Super Platinum and Super Prime.
lenders have a strong appetite to lend.
The changes we are seeing now on a regular basis are enabling us to register with more and more consumers. We’ve all wanted to grow the industry (to be fair, we never wanted it shrink!) and have long been of the opinion that it will take new, innovative products to achieve that goal – no one wants to just replicate what is already available, the aim has got to be to reach out and be appealing to consumers who we previously wouldn’t have been able to service.
Secured loans are starting to have a broader appealAnother area of activity is the technology used in our market.
Our industry has for a long time been relatively manual, almost anti-technology when compared to more automated sectors such as first mortgages, unsecured and peer-to-peer lending.
However, the last few months have seen a definite move towards embracing technology, with the aim to be able to provide consumers with the most fit for purpose product in a quicker, more efficient way.
There are now numerous lenders working towards automation so no doubt the start of 2015 will be an exciting time for all concerned.
The industry could be worth £200,000,000 per month
Final thought
As we see the year draw to a close, there is no sign of a let up in activity in the secured loan arena. December is a shorter working month but that doesn’t mean there’s less work to do.
Ironically, it can often be quite the opposite as we all try to cram a month’s worth of productivity, completions, blood sweat and tears (not to mention the odd Christmas party and more nights out than usual) into fewer working days than normal.
It’s worth taking some time though to consider what’s happening in the wider financial world.
November saw the Prime Minister David Cameron write an article at the end of the G20 summit stating that “red warning lights are flashing on the dashboard of the global recovery” in a similar way as we saw in 2007.
Whilst the reality is that we work in a relatively small industry, it is also fair to say that people feel buoyant about what the future holds. Undoubtedly it will always be important for the wider economy to prove its stability, but I for one have taken the comments as more of a kick up the proverbial, as a way of ensuring we all move in the right direction, rather than a direct comparison to 2007.
The end of the year will see our industry looking back on the most successful 12 months since 2008. That is most definitely a positive sign.
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Index Methodology: To create the index, Loans Warehouse analyses the figures released directly to them by UK secured loan lenders. Figures prior to January 2012 are taken from the FLA.
