Assetz Capital tops £700m lending milestone

The Manchester-based firm said UK ‘appetite’ for alternative lending is on the rise.

Peer-to-peer business lender Assetz Capital said its lending has topped £700m “as the appetite for alternative forms of finance continues to rise across the UK”.

The Manchester-based firm, launched in 2013, pointed out that it is just eight months since it passed a £500m loans milestone last June.

Peer-to-peer firms lent more than £900m in each quarter of 2018, according to trade body the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association.

Assetz Capital, one of the largest peer-to-peer lenders in Europe, said two notable loans in recent months include one to property firm Winrise One, for the construction of 124 purpose-built student apartments in Nottingham, which also includes a cinema, a laundry room and communal spaces.

It also loaned £340,000 for the renovation of Ty Nel Trefengan Farm, a four-bedroomed house in Anglesey, Wales, which will be refurbished for use as a bed and breakfast hotel.

Assetz Capital co-founder and chief executive Stuart Law, said: “While this is an impressive milestone, there is still plenty of capital to invest. We’re constantly looking to develop our product range to match the changing needs of business owners, and we will remain committed to serving ambitious small and medium-sized enterprises and property developers that struggle to obtain funding through traditional means.”

Assetz Capital said the former Royal Bank of Scotland banker left the business with “immediate effect” to “pursue new external opportunities”, last September.