Kuflink plans to double its loanbook by next year
Kuflink aims to double its loanbook by next year as it scales rapidly with a series of new hires, upcoming product launches, and newly streamlined processes.
According to the platform’s recently-appointed head of products, the property lender plans to introduce second charge secured loans within the next few months, and it is currently beta testing buy-to-let mortgages.
So far, the response has been “very, very good,” says to Paul Auger, Kuflink’s head of products.
“We’re looking to double our loanbook in size one year from now,” says Auger. “But we want to do that by sustained growth rather than relaxing our criteria.”
This means taking advantage of new opportunities in the market and filling any funding gaps in the property lending space.
“We’re looking at different flavours of asset classes just to give the investors more choice and more control of where they invest their money,” Auger says.
“Second charge secured loans is one of the things that we’re looking at, as well as buy-to-let mortgages.”
The second charge secured loans are intended for consumers rather than developers. The average loan size is expected to be around £35,000.
The platform is also working on improving the broker experience, by introducing automated valuations which can significantly speed up the decision-making process. These valuations can be completed in as little as 30 seconds, and are much cheaper than getting a full valuation.
“We have recruited additional people and we are changing some of the processes that we adhere to,” says Auger.
“We’re also in the process of final testing stages of our internal software system that we are planning on releasing to brokers, to make it easier for them to access our products through a portal.
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“We don’t want to systemise things for the sake of systemisation,” he adds. “We want to systemise it to get a better experience to the borrower and the broker the whole way through the journey from the point of application through the completion of the loan, and after.”
Earlier this year, Kuflink passed the £200m milestone of total funds invested to date, and the loanbook has grown year on year. Auger hopes that by further investing in the business and attracting new investors, the loanbook will double in size by the end of 2023.
By launching new products and improving the customer experience, Kuflink hopes to win more market share and grow its lending to both new and existing borrowers.
In anticipation of this rapid scale-up, Kuflink has entered into talks with some institutional investors, and Auger hints that a new funding agreement may be announced in the coming months.
“We’re very close to signing terms with an institutional lender to give us a wider choice and availability of funds,” he reveals.
With new funding lines on the horizon, and a series of new products and services in the process of being rolled out, Kuflink is ready for growth.
