There is increased demand in the North of England for bridging loans and this has led to a number of Southern bridging lenders wanting a presence in the North through opening regional offices, partnerships or acquiring Northern brokers. In London and the South East rental yields have fallen for both buy to rent and commercial properties. Increasingly, investors are looking to the North where there are higher buy-to-let rental yields, and demand for office space exceeds supply. With a more buoyant property market in the North, lenders provide mortgages and bridging finance. The challenge for lenders wanting to have a presence in the North is finding staff members that understand the local market. This the reason why some market experts believe that some large southern lenders may want to partner with established northern lenders who have the required local knowledge. The other way to have a northern presence is for lenders to acquire northern lenders and retain their expert staff. Some lenders have what they call “roving underwriters“ who can travel to the North to assess loans without their company needing a separate regional office. There have been advances in technology that could allow southern lenders to lend to investors in the North without needing a physical North of England office. Some lenders are already operating nationwide. Many northern property investors have established a relationship with a local bridging finance broker who has expert local knowledge and can find the best bridging finance deals from lenders.
May 10, 2022
