Lendy announces completion of largest P2P loan to date

LENDY has announced the repayment of its largest peer-to-peer loan to date, which is one of the biggest seen in the UK’s P2P sector.

The property platform said on Wednesday that the £7.92m loan was secured against a property valued at £12.5m in Kentish Town. It has been repaid in full 21 days ahead of schedule and has returned 12 per cent annual interest to lenders.

The loan, which was made by almost 3,500 lenders through the Lendy platform, was drawn down in late October 2016, on a 12-month term. The final payment of interest will be made to lenders at the end of October.

The building, JML House, was formerly home of the Kentish Town Film Studios. With the help of the P2P loan, it has been refurbished to a higher standard which is expected to boost its market value.

Lendy said this repayment is one of a batch of repayments that are expected to total £19m by the end of next week, bringing total repayments since July to £38.5m. The platform has lent out almost £335m since its inception, while the live loan book stands at £158m.

Read more: Lendy introduces variable pre-funding for loans

“A P2P platform is only as good as its ability to manage its loan book,” said Liam Brooke, founder and co-director of Lendy.

“That’s been a very clear area of focus for us in recent months, and it will remain that way. We’re expecting the next fortnight to be a great one for Lendy investors, with a bumper crop of loan repayments scheduled to be returned to our lenders.”

Last month, Lendy reported a 164 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £2.74m in 2016, while turnover rose by 104 per cent over the same period to £27.5m.

“We’re using those profits to invest in our systems and in growing our team, particularly in due diligence, recovery and communications,” said Brooke.

Read more: Lendy – The Property Platform: Five years young and counting