Specialist property lender, Catalyst, has announced that it made more loans in 2022 than in 2021 or any previous year, reporting a 17% year-on-year increase in total gross committed funding across 216 loan facilities.

December 2022 was also a record month for the lender, funding £22 million across 22 new loans.

Catalyst’s average day-one loan size increased by 13% with the largest loan made in 2022 being a single facility for £8.6 million. Average loan terms also increased from 11 to 12 months.

As well as growth in loan origination, the lender also reported that its borrowers had successfully repaid 197 loans, the most loans repaid to Catalyst in one year.

Chris Fairfax (pictured), CEO at Catalyst, said: “To say that I am proud of the Catalyst team for achieving this growth is an understatement. 2022 was an exceptionally challenging year in both the finance and property markets. Catalyst is diversely funded, but we were by no means exempt from fluctuations in funder pricing and risk appetite. We are a responsive lender, built to pivot quickly and adapt our proposition so that we can continue to provide competitive short-term property finance via our broker partners.

2022 wasn’t always easy, for example we faced the disappointment of pausing our buy to let launch, but the fact that we were able to grow our business across all our core products during such challenging times makes me even more proud of my team’s efforts.

In 2023 we will continue to push for growth, making sure we’re delivering great solutions for bridging, refurbishment, development, land, and commercial finance. Just as it was when we launched over five years ago, our ethos is ‘We’re here to make sure you never miss a good opportunity’ and we stand by that; we are the lender who looks for reasons to lend and we will support brokers and property professionals who want to grow their businesses as we grow ours.”