Assetz funds £300m in a year
ASSETZ Capital has reached another lending milestone by funding £300m in loans over the course of the past year.
This represents a 60 per cent increase on the previous five years combined.
Assetz Capital has now lent more than £820m to UK businesses since the peer-to-peer platform was founded in 2013.
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“Having added £300m to our lending balance in only one year, we are rapidly approaching the £1bn total lending milestone, and we expect to maintain this momentum for the rest of the year,” said Stuart Law (pictured), chief executive and founder of Assetz Capital.
“In order to increase lending further, we have invested resource in the development of unique products and growing our regional relationship director team to provide face-to-face service and loan structuring.
“We plan to introduce more innovative solutions to meet the ever-changing demands from borrowers and intermediaries, and continue to grow our market share in the alternative lending space.”
The majority of the £300m has been lent to development finance projects.
Across 147 deals in total, the firm has provided £170m worth of investment, which has led to the construction of 1,706 homes – one in 100 of all new UK homes built during this period.
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The platform has also funded 124 commercial mortgages over the past year, valued at £63m in total. Prior to this, Assetz had lent £84m worth of commercial mortgages since its inception, meaning it has increased loan facilities extended in this category by 75 per cent in a single year.
Law believes that the platform has benefited from the raised profile of P2P lending, and an ongoing lack of funding from banks.
“In recent years, P2P loans have become more popular amongst the underserved small and medium business owners across the UK, acting as an increasingly sought-after alternative to bank loans,” added Law.
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“Banks have stepped back from this middle ground of £200k-£10m secured loans and in particular from SME house builders, where the cost of originating and servicing these loans, or the cost of capital has driven them from this large sector.
“Beyond micro-businesses there are around 250,000 small and medium sized companies that we serve and who have been most badly hit by the retreat from this sector by banks.”
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