P2P lenders remain bullish despite local lockdowns
Peer-to-peer lenders are unconcerned that local lockdown restrictions will create a repeat of the investor and borrower uncertainty that hit the sector when the coronavirus outbreak first hit in March.
The government announced local lockdown restrictions in the north west of England on Thursday evening (31 July).
The restrictions are mainly around socialising with other households but there are fears that further lockdowns could hit investor sentiment or affect borrowers such as small businesses if customers are spending less, or property developers if buyers delay purchases.
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However, Stuart Law, chief executive of Manchester-based business lender Assetz Capital, said local lockdowns are just something that everyone is going to have to get used to.
“It’s the same the world over,” he said.
“We fully expect many localised lockdowns going forwards over coming months and years.
“It’s part of the overall impact of Covid-19 that remains uncertain, however the recovery out of the first lockdown has been strong and we don’t expect further localised lockdowns to have anything like as much impact as that original lockdown at present.”
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Property investment platform Wellesley had a similar stance.
“Wellesley does not see the localised lockdowns as having any particular impact beyond the issues that developers have had to deal with since March,” its managing director, Andrew Turnbull, said.
“Wellesley’s borrowers have been refining their working practices to deal with the wider lock down for on-going Covid-19 issues.
“The local lockdowns in the north west are not bringing any new issues beyond the ones they have already been dealing with on a day-to-day basis in recent months.”
Roxana Mohammadian-Molina, chief strategy officer for Blend Network, said local lockdowns will be part of the ‘new normal’ that must be faced until a vaccine is found.
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