JustUs joins Funding Options panel to help sole traders

JUSTUS has joined the bank referral scheme by signing up with business finance aggregator Funding Options to provide loans to sole traders.

The peer-to-peer property lender has already funded its maiden sole trader loan valued at £15,000 through Funding Options.

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“With the British Business Bank, government and the UK’s leading clearing banks all coming together to help limited companies access finance through the new bank referral scheme, we put together a proposal to Funding Options to establish a lending programme for the unbanked sole traders,” Lee Birkett, founder of JustUs, said.

“Under UK credit regulations, sole traders are treated as regulated personal borrowers. Many sole traders find access to credit extremely difficult as the majority of regulated loans are underwritten electronically with a ‘computer says no’ outcome for many. At JustUs, a qualified human underwriter will assess the loan applications with a common sense approach.

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“We are proud to be in a position to open the JustUs P2P lending platform up to the bank referral programme via designated platform Funding Options.

“We look forward to a long and rewarding working relationship for all of us.”

All borrowers will still need to be able to demonstrate affordability, however JustUs will also take into consideration a borrower’s personal assets and liabilities, as opposed to using credit scores.

Borrowers can also access finance with the support of a personal guarantor if they do not own their own home.

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