How P2P lenders have restarted after pandemic pauses
Lockdown restrictions have been eased across most of the country and peer-to-peer lenders who suspended activity at the height of the pandemic in March have returned to work in different ways.
Some such as RateSetter and Assetz Capital queued withdrawal requests and have been more cautious with lending.
But others went further by stopping lending altogether.
Growth Street initiated a 90-day liquidity event in March that blocked new investors, stopped withdrawals and automatically reinvested funds.
This period ended in June when the platform entered a realisation period where it would focus on getting its loanbook repaid and has since decided to enter a solvent wind-down once all money is paid back.
Lending Works paused all new lending and stopped new user registrations for 90 days on 6 April.
Its future is more certain though, as it was acquired by alternative investment manager Intriva Capital at the start of July in a deal that the platform’s founder Nicholas Harding said would “ultimately help us to realise our ambition of becoming the market leader.”
The platform hasn’t said when it will resume lending.
Property investment platform Cogress paused new lending at the start of the pandemic but is ready to launch new projects as long as there is no second wave of coronavirus infections.
However, Octopus Choice investors are still waiting for the property P2P lending platform to reopen and allow withdrawals since it suspended operations in March.
It has previously said there is no timeline for reopening but it is monitoring the situation.
Similarly, Propifi, which has temporarily suspended operations, has said its website will be fully operational in August.