Bridging lenders

What is the lending landscape like for bridging? Are there are a lot of lenders currently? The bridging lending sector is currently highly competitive with upwards of 300 lenders currently in the market. As opposed to a couple of years ago there is a willingness to make a deal happen from the lenders part whereas during the pandemic LTV’S dropped and a lot of lenders closed their books which meant a limited selection for brokers/borrowers to choose from, which in turn meant that the deal that was being offered was generally not the best deal at the time. This has improved significantly in the years since then as lenders have introduced more competitive products in order to compete with each other for a clients business. Do you expect that to change e.g. more lenders to enter and why? There will always be more boutique style lenders that come into the market which will always increase competition but the main players that have been around for a long time will continue to dominate the scene due to the sheer lending power they have, but the increase in competition I believe is healthy for the sector as the products and rates that lenders will offer will improve and be more inventive. What are bridging lender propositions like currently? Is there variety? The propositions that are offered currently I would say are slowly coming back to pre 2020 levels but not quite there yet and in all honesty they may never return to what they were before. This is where the variety of products come into play as many lenders are coming out with new highly clever products that really focus on a clients actual needs for their project as opposed to offering a generic one fits all deal. I think the variety will continue to expand and more innovative products will be created in line with demand. What are you looking for in a bridging lender? What are key qualities that they should have? It’s difficult for someone who isn’t familiar with the bridging sector to really know if they are picking the right lender or product because they don’t really know until sometimes it’s too late and they have gone so far into the process that backing out isn’t an option. This is why using a broker with industry knowledge will always be a good way to go as they will know the lenders in the market and place the client with the right one. I always look for a lender that will quote accurately from the outset although obviously deals can change everyone knows that but consistency is a big factor. Also speed from the lenders part is highly important due to most transactions being time sensitive, a dedicated point of contact within the firm really helps this part of the transaction as you are not being passed around to different people for one transaction.