Glenhawk targets £100 million of lending and launch of homeowner products in 2019

By Bridging Loan Directory 31st January 2019

Glenhawk, the specialist property lender that recently celebrated its first birthday, announces that following a strong January which has seen it lend more than £5 million and originate almost £60 million of enquiries, it is targeting £100 million of new lending in 2019 and launching products for the homeowner and occupier market. As the more traditional forms of property finance continue to withdraw from the market due to increased regulation and reduced appetite, Glenhawk is at the forefront of a new wave of innovative and well funded specialist lenders positioned to take advantage of this favorable backdrop.

It follows a successful first year which saw Glenhawk lend £40 million, with zero defaults, and secure a £75 million funding line from two major institutional investors, Shawbrook Bank and Insight Investment.

Guy Harrington, pictured,CEO of Glenhawk, commented:

“One year on from launch, we are primed to build on the achievements of 2018. This year has started well and with the profile of those looking to access the real estate debt finance market continually evolving, combined with the strangling effect that wider macro uncertainty is having on the more traditional sources of funding, we are ideally placed to both significantly grow our existing offering, whilst successfully expanding our product range.

“These growth ambitions have seen us apply to become an FCA regulated lender later this year, which will allow us to focus on the £1.4 trillion homeowner mortgages and later life products markets, which are both ripe for disruption.

“At the same time, we will continue to be diligent and prudent in our loan underwriting, working alongside both repeat customers, who made up over a third of last year’s business, as well as new clients.”

Reflecting the ongoing sophistication and professionalism of the sector, the unregulated bridging market has grown by 11% in the past two years and is forecast to grow from £6 billion to £10 billion in the next five years. Property refurbishment was the main reason for obtaining a bridging loan in 2018, up by 5% from 2017 to 28%, as more homeowners looked to improve their existing property rather than move in a market which is seeing increasing house price fluctuation.

2018 saw Glenhawk lend, from a standing start, over £35 million, with a further £5 million provided in January this year, totalling 70 loans, 52% of which were/are secured against residential assets and 22% mixed and commercial assets. November saw Glenhawk achieved a record month, originating £9.28 million of loans, supported by a growing team that today numbers 20.

Sarah Watts, Director of Structured Finance at Shawbrook, added:

“Over the last year Glenhawk has gone from strength to strength, delivering business growth whilst staying true to its vision of delivering transformational change in their market for their customers. We were pleased to provide Glenhawk with their first institutional line in 2018 and look forward to supporting them as they grow in 2019.”