It originates £190 million in July amid ongoing market volatility
Specialist lender West One Loans posted a bumper month for originations in July, reaching £190 million despite challenging market conditions.
The £190 million originated last month – made up of buy-to-let, second charge, development finance, bridging, and residential lending – is the most the lender has achieved in a single month in its history, surpassing the previous high of £164 million set in March.
According to West One’s latest figures, its assets under management have now grown to a record £2 billion. Long-term lending products – BTL, residential, and second charge – reached £1 billion under management for the first time, with short-term products – bridging and development finance – also continuing to grow strongly.
The lender, which reported robust lending growth last year, said it was confident it can continue lending strongly this year despite volatile market conditions.
The news also came with West One’s announcement of a series of new appointments that is expected to fuel its ambitious growth plans.
Matt Watson and Jez Quinn have been promoted to head of sales for bridging and buy-to-let in the South and North respectively. West One has also hired two new regional account managers for bridging and buy-to-let: Ashley Bailey to cover the North region, and Ashleigh Blackbeard to cover the South West.
Just recently, West One Loans – one of the two trading divisions of Enra Specialist Finance – also announced a number of senior hires as it looked to grow its share of the specialist residential mortgage market.
“I am very pleased to be able to report record lending figures this month and a sustained success through the first half of the year, despite ongoing market volatility,” commented Danny Waters (pictured), chief executive at Enra Specialist Finance.
“West One remains extremely well-capitalised, well-funded, and committed to the specialist lending sector. Our recent performance demonstrates just how robust we are. I believe there is still great opportunity in the market for well-funded specialist lenders despite the current environment.
Waters pointed out that demand for lending remained high across all elements of West One’s proposition, especially in the short-term space.
“We believe we will see our market share grow as we continue to offer a consistent, reliable source of specialist funding to our broker partners through changing market conditions,” he said.
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