In just eight months, the bank had already exceeded the full 2023/24 commercial total
Digital lender Atom Bank has recorded its strongest quarter for commercial mortgage lending in the three months to October, with significant increases in applications, offers, and completions.
Applications for commercial mortgages surged by 43% compared to the same period last year, marking a new record for the bank. The total value of offers issued also hit an all-time high, up by 142% year-on-year and surpassing the record set in the preceding quarter.
By October, just eight months into the 2024 financial year, Atom bank had already exceeded the total value of commercial mortgage offers and completions achieved during the entire 2023/24 financial year. This milestone follows the bank’s announcement in June that it had surpassed £1 billion in commercial mortgage completions.
The record-breaking performance comes on the back of numerous process enhancements aimed at improving the speed and efficiency of the bank’s commercial mortgage services. Atom bank implemented over 100 changes to its systems and processes, enabling it to issue agreements in principle (AIPs) within an average of one working day after receiving fully packaged applications. The average time from AIP acceptance to a formal offer is now under 10 working days.
In addition to operational changes, Atom bank has introduced competitive rate cuts to support business borrowers. The most recent reductions saw rates drop by up to 0.76%, with the largest cuts targeting loans with higher loan-to-value ratios. The bank is also offering a 0.25% rate discount on loans between £1 million and £4 million for applications submitted by November 29.
“These record-setting activity levels show that our products and processes are striking a chord with brokers and their business clients,” said Tom Renwick (pictured), head of business lending at Atom bank. “We have made significant improvements to our commercial origination processes to deliver significantly faster credit assessment speeds that allow business borrowers to receive the certainty they require to proceed with their plans quickly.
“There is way more to come too as we make some transformative upgrades in the early part of next year, so watch this space.”
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