LendingCrowd blames RLS for continued retail closure
LendingCrowd has blamed continued economic uncertainty and the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) for the ongoing closure of its peer-to-peer lending business.
The platform stopped trading on its secondary market in January, and remains closed to new retail sign-ups and registrations.
The business lender has previously said that poor economic conditions and a low number of loans were behind the platform’s decision to remain closed to retail investors.
LendingCrowd said in May it remained closed to new lenders, then confirmed in September that individual lenders are still unable to buy or sell loan parts.
The platform said its loan market will remain closed to lenders for the time being as a result of the continued economic uncertainty, with staff shortages and global supply chain disruption continuing to impact businesses, and the impact of government-backed lending schemes such as the RLS.
LendingCrowd said it will closely monitor the performance of borrowers and if it identifies an opportunity to reopen its loan market it will consider this, while treating customers fairly.
“Economic conditions remain challenging for small- and medium-sized enterprises,” LendingCrowd said in a blog on its website.
“Some of the government support measures introduced to support them through these difficult times – such as the coronavirus job retention scheme and VAT reductions – have now ended.
“Meanwhile, staff shortages and global supply chain disruption are impacting businesses in a range of sectors and regions.
“As a result of the continued economic uncertainty, we have decided that our loan market will remain closed to lenders for the time being. We are closely monitoring the performance of borrowers during this challenging period and if we identify an opportunity to re-open our loan market this will be considered in the context of treating our customers fairly.
“The availability of government-backed lending schemes has altered the lending landscape, with approximately 80 financial services providers accredited to offer RLS loans.
“We will continue to communicate updates on the situation and when we will be likely to resume offering loans that individual lenders are permitted to fund.”
In October, LendingCrowd forecasted “significant new lending activity” for the remainder of 2021, after posting a £1.14m loss last year due to “reduced activity” amid the Covid crisis.
The platform has been closed to new retail deposits and registrations since December 2020, as it has focused on delivering institutional funds through the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme.