The first quarter of 2021 is expected to see a return to pre-pandemic levels of second charge lending volumes, according to research by Loans Warehouse.

Findings by the second charge specialist, published in its latest Secured Loan Index, indicated that the third national lockdown would be “business as usual” for lenders who were active at the end of 2020, while some lenders are even predicting growth at the start of 2021.

The monthly index takes information from several second charge lenders in the UK, including Optimum Credit, Oplo, United Trust Bank, Masthaven, Norton Home Loans, Equifinance, Evolution Money, and Clearly Loans.

Data showed that the fourth quarter of 2020 saw a doubling in volume over the preceding quarter, and Loans Warehouse reported that December’s lending volume hit £66.8m, although this was a £13.4m decrease on the total reported in November.

“Whilst this figure represents a month-on-month drop that is purely seasonal, as a percentage it is actually only 2% difference from the same time period in 2019, when neither social distancing or furlough were part of our vocabulary,” said Loans Warehouse managing director, Matt Tristram.

“Average completion time across the industry dropped to at 11 days, the lowest we've seen since the return of the Secured Loan Index.”

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