The property lending platform said its second charge lending now makes up nearly half of all its loans
SoMo has seen a 25% rise in second charge lending in the last 12 months, as businesses look to grow post-pandemic.
The peer-to-peer property lending platform said its second charge lending now makes up nearly half of all its loans.
Rob Johnson, head of underwriting at SoMo, said that second charge lending will be an important part of the platform’s growth strategy.
He added that the platform sees potential to grow uptake of the product in London and the South East, which mainly concentrates on first charge lending.
He said that the specialist property finance lender has seen plenty of potential in London and the south east, which mainly concentrates on first charge lending. This year, SoMo plans to open an office in London to capitalise on the second charge market in the capital.
We want to educate brokers about the potential of second charge lending; the message coming from our network is that they’re surprised by the demand and delighted that this type of loan can be used for a variety of purposes, said Johnson.
Coming out of the pandemic, we’ve been working with many businesses looking to raise funds by way of second charge loans – some to keep their businesses afloat and others to jump on new opportunities that have arisen, he said.
The loans could be used to purchase a buy-to-let property, pay off a tax bill or grow a business with new premises, materials or marketing, he added.
SoMo’s rise in second charge lending coincides with the latest statistics from Loans Warehouse which showed that second charge lending was up by 82.62% year-on-year in the first quarter.
