Second charge lending rose by 82 per cent in first quarter

Second charge lending volumes rose to a new post-credit crunch record in the first quarter of the year, with £155.5m loaned in March alone.

According to the latest statistics from Loans Warehouse, second charge lending was up by 82.62 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022. Last month, Loans Warehouse reported an 83 per cent increase in lending between February 2021 and February 2022.

3,237 loans were written in March, beating the previous monthly record of 3,036, which was set in November 2021.

“The figures reported directly to Loans Warehouse from second charge lenders confirm lending totalled £155.5m in March 2022, a new post credit crunch record and a continuation of the huge growth being seen in second charge lending over the last six months,” said Matt Tristram, managing director of Loans Warehouse.

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“These record breaking figures represent a 12.36 per cent increase month-on-month, and a 12.83 per cent rise on the previous post-credit crunch record.

“Lending in Q1 of 2022 is also rewriting the record books up 82.62 per cent on the same period in 2021. By comparison, it took until June to reach the same level of lending last year.”

Loans Warehouse data found that the most popular loan type was consolidation loans, which accounted for just over 39 per cent of all second charge lending in March. Consolidation and home improvement loans made up 37.18 per cent of loans, while home improvement loans represented 16.05 per cent of all loan activity.

The average completion time was 22 days – one day faster than in February 2022.

The average term time was 21.8 years.

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