Pepper Money has revealed that it completed more than £1bn worth of first and second charge mortgages across its two brands, Pepper Money and Optimum Credit, last year.

In the first charge market, Pepper Money grew its specialist mortgage business having it easier for brokers to place their complex, adverse credit and self-employed cases.

It has also increased its buy-to-let lending and recently loved into Limited Company buy-to-let.

Optimum Credit maintained its position as a leader in the second charge market. Pepper Money purchased Optimum Credit in October 2018 and has plans to broaden the appeal of both platforms over the next 12 months.

Laurence Morey (pictured), CEO of Pepper Money, said: “Breaking through £1bn is an important milestone for this business, but it is just one milestone on our journey towards realising the true potential for our lending platforms.

“We have an exciting roadmap with a number of proposition developments and service enhancements that we will be launching this year. This will provide lending solutions for a broader range of clients and make it even easier for brokers to work with us.

“We also have plans to more closely align our first and second charge lending products which will provide a significant opportunity for Pepper Money to offer brokers a range of different options for capital raising from one, well respected lending institution.”