Loans Warehouse has reported that the first half of 2014 saw secured lending volumes increase by 32.8%.

This is £74,860,000 more than had been lent by the end of June 2013.

It also marks the highest six-month period of sustained lending since the end of 2008, when the credit crunch began to take effect on second charge lending.

Matt Tristram, co-founder and director of Loans Warehouse & Clearly Loans, said: “The sector has definitely found a level it’s comfortable at, which at present is around the £50m per month mark. However we believe there is about to be a potential game changer with the launch of Optimum Credit.

“There is some mystery around the Cardiff based lender as there is no published matrix and a purely score based system, something the industry has always steered away from, priding itself on manual underwriting, so it will be interesting to see how brokers react to a new way of working.”

“In a statement last week, RBS announced they would be providing a £20m funding line to Optimum Credit. Michael Murray of RBS said: “The provision of the facility to Optimum Credit reinforces RBS’s support for the secured loan industry and the positive fundamentals we see over the coming years.

“We remain committed to supporting existing clients and open to looking at new opportunities.”