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Nivo joins the ASTL

Nivo has become the latest professional organisation to join the Association of Short Term Lenders (ASTL) as an associate member.

FinTech, Nivo, designed its technology solution to meet the needs of specialist lending. Within its convenient messaging network, Nivo simplifies information gathering and checks using a range of fintech tools like biometric identity verification, open banking, advanced e-signing and instant filesharing. It then makes it much easier to progress deals quickly, through seamless data and file transfer and instant messaging with intermediaries.
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Bridgeshield joins the ASTL

Bridgeshield has become the latest professional organisation to join the Association of Short Term Lenders (ASTL) as an associate member.

Bridgeshield Asset Management provides lenders with a broad range of solutions, from property risk assessment at origination, through to Asset Management and LPA Receivership solutions for when things don’t work out as expected.
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Bridging completions fall in Q2 2020 but applications increase

Bridging completions were £470m in Q2 2020, down 56% on Q4 2019, but applications rose slightly in the same period.

This is according to the latest figures compiled by auditors from data provided by members of the Association of Short-Term Lenders (ASTL). The data shows that applications increased by just over 1% in Q2 2020, compared to Q4 2019, while loan books showed a small decrease but remain at £4.5bn. Average LTVs increased slightly in Q2 2020 compare to Q4 2019, but continue to remain at sub 60%.
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Working at speed to deliver a healthy market

The rate of change in the short-term lending market since March has been immense, but one of the great things about our sector is that it is possibly the most resilient and adaptable area secured lending.

Lenders have been incredibly quick to respond to the changing environment and evolve their processes accordingly and while some lenders have pulled back from the market, many have continued to lend throughout lockdown, using technology and remote valuations to continue to operate effectively. They are, rightly, taking appropriate precautions to mitigate risk, and we have seen a tightening of some criteria, such as limiting LTVs, reduced appetite for larger loan sizes and taking a more cautious approach to ground-up developments.
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Bridging lenders upbeat on long-term prospects

The latest sentiment survey from the Association of Short Term Lenders (ASTL) shows that bridging lenders are upbeat about the long term prospects for the UK economy despite the uncertain outlook and immediate challenges faced by the sector.

The research, which was conducted amongst members of the ASTL in the first half of July, found that more than 64% of bridging lenders are confident about the long-term prospects for the UK economy, compared to just 50% when the survey was run in June last year.
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OFFA joins The Association of Short Term Lenders

OFFA has become the latest lender to join the Association of Short Term Lenders (ASTL).

OFFA is the first bridging finance provider in the UK to offer products that are designed in accordance with Islamic and ethical financing principles. It provides residential, commercial, refurbishment and planning bridging loans as well as development finance, and its management team has combined experience of more than 50 years of property finance experience.
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Moving on from a mortgage payment holiday

If something appears too good to be true, it probably is – and this adage is ringing true for some of the huge number of customers who chose to defer the payments on their mortgage as part of the payment holiday scheme that was announced by the government in March. It was never a payment holiday – merely a deferral – but there are other downsides for borrowers who have taken up the offer, and these are now rapidly becoming apparent.

According to a recent poll by Mortgage Solutions, nearly four in 10 (39%) brokers said that they couldn’t place a case as a result of their client having taken a mortgage payment holiday or having accessed a government support scheme. Read more

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Trends to watch for in the ‘New Normal’

One of the lessons we have all learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is that the world is an unpredictable place in which nothing is certain. As the lockdown restrictions slowly start to be relaxed, nobody knows what shape the economic recovery might take. But we can anticipate future trends based on some of the many changes that have happened during the lockdown.

I spoke to some members of the ASTL Executive Committee to find out their thoughts on the impact of COVID-19 and some of the trends we might expect to see in the future. The key themes were the resilience of the sector, the importance of technology and the opportunities for residential development in areas that have traditionally been dominated by commercial space.
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Reputation will be paramount as we emerge from this pandemic

In April, the international professional services firm, EY published its annual report into the UK bridging market. The research for the report was carried out earlier in the year, before the scale of the COVID-19 crisis was fully realised and, while this has dated some of the results, there are many elements that remain true in the current environment and are likely to continue to do so as we emerge from this pandemic.

One, particularly interesting section of the report, that I would like to focus on, looked at the key customer considerations in choosing a bridging lender. According to the research, 58% of respondents cited “speed of execution” as very important for a customer when choosing a bridging lender, which is consistent with the results of the previous year’s survey.
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