February 2014 marks the 28th month in a row of year on year growth in secured lending and there are no signs that this trend will be interrupted, Loans Warehouse has reported.

The secured loans distributor says that while the month on month rise is small at just 0.12%, the evidence of the continued growth in secured lending is “irrefutable”.

Matt Tristram, co-founder and director of Loans Warehouse & Clearly Loans, said: “I’ll start with the one negative of the last month for second charge lending; the disappointing news that one of 2013’s new entrants, Firmus Secured Loans, has put a hold on all lending for three months and made staff at the London based office redundant. This came as a bit of a shock and despite being the original broker involved in the launch of Firmus, we have heard very little officially from Firmus.

“The abrupt halt in funding does not suggest a quick return for the lender launched last September.

“Looking forward, it is less than a month until the hand over of second charge regulation from OFT to FCA. The industry is a hive of activity in preparation, many lenders and brokers having held meetings and seminars together to ensure the industry is working towards a common goal.
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Whilst very little is likely to alter day one, this is a huge change for an industry previously only regulated at arms length by the OFT. I believe the change will be welcomed with open arms as it will take secured lending to the next level with the increased recognition that comes from FCA regulation.

“At this point, it’s no real surprise that lenders aren’t making too many alterations. There have been tweaks, for example, Prestige made a minor change to their valuation criteria by announcing they will now accept drive-by valuations on gross loans up to £100k, with a maximum LTV of 70%.

“The recovery of secured lending in Northern Ireland continues with TFS & 1st Stop Homeloans becoming the 4th & 5th lenders to launch a product a range in the last couple of months.

“Finally however one stand out bit of news. In the last few weeks Spring Finance has secured a £100 million bank funding line. Spring Finance may not be known to those outside the secured loan industry. The Hertfordshire based lender has been trading since 2003, but stopped lending in 2008 just prior to the credit crunch and then restarted in 2011. They launched again with a forward thinking FCA regulated structure, lending to clients with heavy adverse credit but a strict income calculation to ensure ongoing affordability, aimed at long term stability.”