Proplend joins NACFB

PROPLEND has joined the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB) as a patron.

The peer-to-peer property platform said on Wednesday that it received positive feedback from the trade body’s broker community, prior to its membership being approved.

“Brokers play a significant role in the UK finance market, particularly within our commercial property funding sector,” said Brian Bartaby (pictured), chief executive of Proplend.

Read more: Proplend embarks on equity fundraising to scale up the business

“It’s important to know what you’re looking for as well as where to look. This is where specialist commercial brokers come in.

“Increasingly their market awareness and due diligence point them in the direction of P2P lending platforms like Proplend, who are rapidly becoming a larger slice of the lending ecosystem.

“We can help when high street banks and secondary lenders have been unable to – often providing finance quicker and with more flexible, bespoke terms.”

Read more: Proplend’s Brian Bartaby on the IFISA

The NACFB provides access to more than 1,600 commercial finance brokers nationwide.

“Our member brokers have warmly received Proplend as they offer further diversity in the property lending space,” said Norman Chambers, managing director of the NACFB.

“We encourage all our members to engage with Brian and explore Proplend’s services to see how they may help their commercial property clients find bridging and mortgage finance solutions.”

Proplend connects individual and institutional investors with creditworthy borrowers looking for secured commercial property loans. The platform has lent out more than £28.5m to date, on commercial property worth over £57m, with an average loan-to-value of less than 60 per cent.

It is fully authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority and launched its Innovative Finance ISA earlier this year.