A secured loan completed within 24 hours is being cited as a sign of the growing role specialist finance is playing as brokers handle tighter criteria, higher refinancing volumes and more time-sensitive cases.

The case involved a borrower facing a three-day deadline to raise funds, with the adviser turning to the second charge market after conventional options could not deliver within the required timeframe.

The loan was packaged, approved and completed within a day. While such outcomes remain unusual, the case points to a wider trend in which specialist lending is being used more often to deal with urgent borrowing needs.

MARKET VOLATILITY

The backdrop is a mortgage market entering a busy refinancing period. Industry forecasts suggest around 1.8 million fixed-rate mortgages are due to mature during 2026, with remortgage volumes expected to exceed £100bn as borrowers move off lower-rate pandemic-era deals.

Recent volatility in swap rates has also led to lenders repricing and withdrawing products at short notice, reducing the time brokers have to secure offers and increasing the risk of cases falling outside standard criteria.

Against that backdrop, secured loans, bridging finance and other specialist products are being used more frequently for capital raising, debt consolidation and transactions where speed is a deciding factor.

Figures cited in the release show that more than 41,000 secured loan agreements were written in 2025, the highest annual total since before the financial crisis, while total second charge lending rose to more than £2bn following double-digit year-on-year growth.

GOOD PACKAGING

Paul McGerrigan (pictured), chief executive of Loan.co.uk, said: “This 24-hour completion shows what clear advice, good packaging and close collaboration between adviser, client and lender can achieve.”