A new peer-to-peer lender has piggybacked on the UK’s rising house prices, it has claimed.

LendInvest provides loans to small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) which are secured against the value of their commercial and residential property holdings.

Since forming in May 2013 LendInvest has seen its customer base grow as consumers take advantage of increasing property values.

The recent property boom which has returned UK house prices to post 2008-highs have given increasing numbers of small businesses the confidence to take out loans, resulting in greater demand for P2P loans.

Residential house prices are at their highest level since 2008 after 7% growth in the last year and they are expected to continue to climb in 2014.

Until recently, P2P lenders have traditionally provided unsecured loans to clients based on the value of their business; LendInvest provides short-term bridging loans.

Christian Faes, co-founder of LendInvest, said: “Property secured P2P lending is completely new to the world of finance and the rise in property prices has helped drive interest from SMEs.

“We expect the surge of SME interest to continue to flourish in 2014 but for the market LendInvest represents much more than that. We are creating a completely new asset class – a trusted and secure alternative to investment funds.

“Our transparent approach, low fees and willingness to provide loans – particularly compared to traditional banks – is what makes this form of finance so compelling.