Second charge lending totalled £69.6m in February, a 14.4% increase compared to January, new figures from the latest Secured Loan Index by Loans Warehouse have revealed.

February’s figure reflected an £8.8m increase on January but was still short of February 2020’s total – which topped £100m, according to figures from the Finance and Leasing Association.

The latest total was comprised of 1,768 completions, which also reflected a monthly climb of 24% on January.

Loans Warehouse suggested one of the most notable changes to the market has been the continued rise of higher LTV lending, which has doubled month-on-month. The second charge lending specialist said there were “obvious factors” contributing to this rise, including high street lenders still restricting higher LTVs, while options have continued to increase from second charge lenders.

“Overall, February's figures shine a positive light on second charge lending,” said Loans Warehouse managing director, Matt Tristram. “Average terms are down from 14 to 16 years and completion times are dropping, with the average second charge loan taking just 11.6 days to complete.

“As we enter several months of social and economic change – with the benefits of the vaccine rollout having an impact, schools reopening and lockdown ending – the prediction is that demand is set to soar.

“With that in mind, we're confidently predicting March 2021 will see the highest lending figures since the arrival of the pandemic.”

The monthly Secured Loan Index from Loans Warehouse takes information from the biggest second charge lenders in the UK including Optimum Credit, Oplo, United Trust Bank, Together Money, Masthaven, Norton Home Loans, Equifinance, Evolution Money, and Clearly Loans.

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