Second charge lending up 45pc year-on-year

Second charge lending rose by 45.56 per cent in September, year-on-year.

According to the latest lending figures from Loans Warehouse, second charge lending totalled £160.4m last month – the third highest monthly figure of 2022.

In August, second charge lending reached a record breaking total of £166.5m.

Loans Warehouse now believes that the projected annual total will reach £1.77bn for 2022, which would be a post-financial crisis record.

“Like everyone in financial services, the last couple of weeks have been ‘interesting’,” said a Loans Warehouse spokesperson.

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“The second charge industry has seen a widespread increase in headline rates from almost all lenders, with rates typically increasing by an average of 1.75 per cent. In addition, Together, West One and Selina have taken the step to temporarily withdraw fixed-rate products.

“However, most second charge lenders – including Pepper Money, Oplo and Equifinance – have honoured existing applications where an ESIS has been produced.

“Other than rate, there have been minimal criteria changes recorded and lending seems to be continuing at the same level (so far).”

In September, Loans Warehouse noted a small drop (0.36 per cent) in lending against higher loan-to-values. There was a 0.38 per cent increase in the average term time of the loans, while the average completion time increased to 1.94 days.

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