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www.mortgageintroducer.com • May 2012
People are getting bored of how much press coverage the bridging industry is generating. In the past month no fewer than five senior mortgage in- dustry hard hitters have complained,
criticised and condemned the clamour. What’s all the fuss about, they moan at me. Bridging is still less than 1% of the entire mortgage market. It’s minute. Yet its lenders dominated the Mortgage Business Expo at the end of last year, trade magazines across the market are giving it inch upon inch of exposure and even the regulator has mentioned it several times. In a seriously subdued mortgage market it is making money. It’s also paying brokers decent proc fees. That’s all well and good but as more people realise there are decent margins to be made in bridging there is a grow- ing pressure to lend money. And it seems recent figures from the AOBP (whose reli- ability is uncertain, but they’re better than nothing) show the market isn’t getting any bigger. Instead bigger lenders are lend- ing less (or waiting to redeem loans) while newer lenders are taking market share
Editor
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away from them. This is why there is so much press cover- age of the sector. No longer are we simply writing about how quickly Lender A did a bridging deal. The focus is now on whom lenders are lending to and at what criteria. Data from West One shows the average bridging rate has fallen to 1.38% a month. LTVs are up in Q1 on the 2011 average. Lenders are slowly scaling the risk curve to keep getting their cash out the door. Hedge funds are looking at setting up fixed income divisions yielding more than 10% return by lending short-term; the money is pouring in. That’s why so much abuse is also being hurled around the market. The “he said, she said” may be incessant but it’s vital to drag the short-term industry kicking and screaming into the modern world. In a finite market the more money there is, the more risk lenders will accept to make sure it’s their money producing a yield. The old guard in bridging may be speaking the language of the new but they are not yet acting it. Until the sector gets its act together the clamour of coverage will continue.
Sarah Davidson Editor
Bridging Introducer 4 News Review
6 Bridging In Depth The rise of the blender
16 Industry Comments Expert views on the latest developments in bridging
20 Build a Better Bridge Your questions answered
22 Round-table
The changing face of customers 28 Cover Story
Blemain Group talks 40 years in the market
32 In My Opinion Blemain Group is fast and efficient
34 The Last Word What must the FSA change in MMR
38 A Bridge Too Far Essential information and don’t forget our competition
www.blemaingroup.co.uk BriDging intrODucer MAY 2012 3
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