West One Loans had a record month for originations in July, new figures released today reveal.
Despite challenging conditions, the specialist lender originated £190m – the most it has achieved in a single month in its history – last month. This is up again on the last record set in March of 164m. The total figure is made up of buy-to-let, second charge, development finance, bridging and residential lending.
July’s exceptional lending figures mean West One has now grown assets under management to a record £2bn.
Long-term lending products (BTL, residential and second charge) reached £1bn under management for the first time, with short-term products (bridging and development finance) also continuing to grow strongly. The lender is confident it can continue lending strongly in the second half of the year, despite volatile market conditions.
The news comes as West One announces a series of new appointments in order to fuel its ambitious growth targets. Matt Watson has been promoted to Head of Sales for Bridging & Buy-to-let in the South. Jez Quinn has been promoted to Head of Sales for Bridging & Buy-to-let in the North.
West One has also hired two new Regional Account Managers for Bridging & Buy-to-let: Ashley Bailey to cover the North region, and Ashleigh Blackbeard to cover the South West. Just last month, West One’s residential team also announced a number of senior hires as it looks to grow its share of the specialist residential mortgage market.
Danny Waters, CEO of Enra Specialist Finance, said:“I am very pleased to be able to report record lending figures this month and a sustained success through the first half of the year, despite ongoing market volatility.
“West One remains extremely well-capitalised, well-funded, and committed to the specialist lending sector. Our recent performance demonstrates just how robust we are. I believe there is still great opportunity in the market for well-funded specialist lenders despite the current environment.
“Demand for lending remains high across all elements of our proposition especially in the short-term space.
“We believe we will see our market share grow as we continue to offer a consistent, reliable source of specialist funding to our broker partners through changing market conditions.”