Assetz Capital hoping to double CBILS lending before the deadline

Assetz Capital has approved more than £70m of agreements in principle under the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) and is hoping to double this before the initiative ends this month, the peer-to-peer lender’s head of credit Tim Harper has revealed.

The platform was one of the first P2P lenders to gain CBILS accreditation in May for commercial mortgages and development funding.

In an email update, Harper said the platform has been able to reconsider previous applications and offer CBILS to new and existing borrowers as well as those who are midway through developments for the remaining funds.

“The first weeks have achieved in excess of £70m of agreements in principle which we hope to double before the current expiry of the scheme on 30 September and draw down the loans in the coming months,” he said.

“So far, 85 per cent of CBILS applications we have received are regional housebuilders who have limited funders willing to support them, but are as diverse as a hairdresser in Preston wishing to purchase present leasehold premises, to a new build care facility for abused children from all over the UK in Leamington Spa.”

Read more: Mixed views on the future of CBILS

Harper added that Assetz Capital’s existing book is “pushing through the present and past difficulties” but said it is keeping an eye on the care, office and leisure sectors.

“It would be naïve not to think we will see further fallout in these sectors, but we are prudent property secured lenders and that will hopefully cushion any blow,” he said.

The platform has also revealed it has processed more than 8,000 discounted trades on its access account marketplace since it launched in August.

This has reduced withdrawal requests by around £10m, Assetz Capital said.