West One Loans has reported that a total of £2.3bn sets of bridging loan terms were issued in the first half of 2021, which is up 29% on the same period last year.

The lender has seen gross completions up 32% from H1 2020, to £485m for 2021 throughout its short-term bridging and development offering.

Despite this, tthe average turnaround time for loans to complete is currently 25% quicker than the industry average of 40 days or over.

Nick Jones (pictured), sales director for Bridging at West One said: “It has certainly been a strong period of growth for the business and really sets the pace for the second half of the year, as we expect to build on this success.

“Clearly there is high demand in the market. But the level of customer service, quality of the product and quick turnaround time from the team at West One, has meant we’ve been able to maximise those opportunities.

“Our long-standing and strong relationships with our broker and intermediary network have also been a key factor. When you’re working with quality partners day-in day-out, it makes the whole process more efficient and helps bring down the turnaround times to industry-leading levels.

“It also demonstrates the strength of the bridging finance sector right now, as increasingly people are looking to specialist lenders to achieve their property-owning aspirations.”