not get in any other area of the country. We can’t speak for other lenders


but there is no reluctance to lend outside the M25 from tiuta’s perspective; we are looking at deals on their own individual merits and if it works, it works, whether it is in Kentish town or Scunthorpe. What is important for introducers


and their clients is transparency. if lenders won’t lend beyond the South east, they should make this clear in their marketing and in all their broker communications. it would save a lot of time, money and energy if they let introducers knew exactly what geographical criteria they are applying rather than leading them up the garden path on deals they have no intention of funding.


steven mcColl, partner, soho Corporate


everyone loves a sweeping statement. one of the favourites doing the broker


rounds just now is that there is very little money available and appetite to lend north of the M25. is this true? the short answer is no. Looking at 50 different short-term


funders, the geographical coverage is as follows, 10 lenders will fund deals in england, Wales and Scotland; 25 lenders lend across the whole of england and Wales; and 15 lenders only lend in London and the South. So, we have ascertained that there


is short-term money available across the whole of uK. However, if we focus in on actual volume, the story evolves. London and the South have a number of big ticket funders such as dragonfly that will fund


large deals. these dwarf the size of those being funded in the north, for example they might fund a £5m townhouse in Mayfair, whereas you’d have to do 40 deals at £125k in the north to achieve the same gross lending figure as have been achieved in the one Mayfair deal. new entrants are coming to the


lending market particularly based in the north and the lending volume is in turn increasing north of the M25. there certainly is demand for money in the north, albeit the broker has to work harder given each deal is generally smaller in size than transactions in London and the South.


Laurence Goodman, managing director, bridgebank Capital


Historically, there is plenty of statistical evidence to support the view that property


values are more robust and less affected by recessionary symptoms in and around central and greater London. certainly population concentration within the M25 circle will always generate a higher level of commercial activity than elsewhere in the country. these facts will not change. Additionally, most new entrants that have come into the bridging sector appear to be based in London; this is the market they are most comfortable in and where they consider there is less risk and volatility as to capital values and property marketability. regionalised lending does have


its advantages in terms of direct local knowledge and ease of accessibility to the property security and borrowers. However, it is wrong to ignore the quality lending opportunities across the whole country.


A closer look at the lending pro-


file of bridging lenders does dem- onstrate that the more experienced and established lenders have the capability and desire to lend across the whole of the country, whilst tak- ing a fair percentage of market share opportunities within the M25 circle. it is really only either small London based lenders or the new entrants playing safe that are restricting their activity to within the M25. there is clearly plenty of demand


just within the greater London market, but being totally focused on one location could also be viewed as increasing the geographical risk profile of a loan book. there are obvious risk manage-


ment benefits in spreading a loan book across the regions with no over reliance on any one area, and clearly this strategy is very much alive and supported by the more experienced lenders in the bridging sector.


Gary bailey, director, blemain Group


A reluctance to lend outside the M25 seems to be a restrictive approach to


business. Lending inside or outside of central London essentially makes little difference. regardless of geography, each case should be reviewed on an individual basis taking into account personal circumstances, assets and overall client aims. the demand outside of the M25


is incredibly high, demonstrating a great opportunity for intermediaries. Lending throughout the uK ensures a diverse portfolio of clients which in turn lowers the dependence on one area and reduces the overall risk for brokers. 


Bridging introducer september 2011 35


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