March 2019
By Darrell Walker, Head of Sales, InterBay Commercial
What’s driving the increasing demand for bridging finance in 2019?
It’s safe to say that 2018 was a good year for the bridging market and all signs point to short term lending demand to continue to grow this year.
The good news for brokers is that the bridging market has benefited from increasing professionalisation and specialisation. Not only are lenders offering an increasing range of products, but there are also more lenders entering the space. This means more options for clients.
What’s driving this demand?
There are a myriad of economic, regulatory and political factors, which has led to buyers and sellers needing to ‘bridge the gap’. For example, residential buyers are likely to use bridging finance if they’ve faced delays securing longer term finance or if they are buying at auction. Unlike the process when securing longer term finance, such as a mortgage, the process to secure bridging finance can be swift, as lenders are able to act more flexibly to provide their clients with the funding they need for time pressured situations.
For developers, there can be other benefits to using bridging finance, particularly during periods of low market activity. Developer exit loans can be beneficial for those developers who have unsold properties in their current project and need to release capital in order to move on to the next project.
With this growing demand from clients, more brokers are branching out into bridging finance, however for those of you new to bridging, this can seem a daunting prospect. Nevertheless, there are benefits, namely an opportunity to diversify into an alternative revenue stream and being able to offer your clients a wider choice of solutions.
It’s essential that brokers look to build good relationships with specialist lenders, through their business development managers, and to familiarise themselves with the products and criteria on offer. By doing this, it means that when facing difficult cases, brokers will already have a better understanding of which lenders they should turn to for the best solution for their client.
Need a well placed lender to provide bridging finance expertise?
InterBay Commercial is an expert in bridging
At InterBay Commercial, our national team of senior business development managers are always happy to arrange a visit or call to share their expertise with brokers to find our best tailor made options.
We offer a range of bridging products and have the flexibility and expertise to provide bespoke solutions for both simple and complex bridging loans.
InterBay’s unregulated bridging range offers:
Visit interbay.co.uk/contact-us to find your local senior business development manager or call the broker sales support team on 03458 787000 for more information.