While lending activity within the major cities remains rife, a study of RateSetter’s users has revealed that Royston in North Hertfordshire has lent the most money per capita in the UK. Despite being home to a population of just 16,000 – the town has lent approximately £1.6 million via the platform since October 2010 – £100 each. As you can see from the tables below, London and Bristol are still leading the way in terms of total money lent, but several of the smaller towns boast impressive loan amounts that are disproportionate to their size.
RateSetter also shed light on what motivates borrowers to make use of the platform. The highest single rationale for taking out a p2p loan is to purchase a car (20%), followed by home improvement (17%), debt consolidation (17%), holidays (4%), weddings (3%) and business loans (2%). But the largest portion of loans (37%) are taken out for a category simply described as “other” – which encompasses a diverse spectrum of uses ranging from hearing aids and other medical expenses to home cinema systems.
Rhydian Lewis, Founder and CEO of the platform, commented:
“Our study shows that the UK is fast becoming a nation of people lending to and borrowing from each other without the banks taking a cut. It is great to see the phenomenon that will fundamentally change the way we save and borrow is being driven by savvy savers in large cities, who know the best way to earn a higher income from their savings.”
“And it is also edifying to see the peer-to-peer revolution has won the heart of small town Britain, where a decent return on savings was never needed more. This is a sign of how far lending and borrowing in the UK has changed – and will continue to in future.”
“We look forward to repeating this study later in the year to see how these patterns continue to evolve, and the impact of FCA regulation.”
Finally the survey delved, as many surveys seem to be doing at the moment, into what might draw further investors into p2p lending in the future. RateSetter found that nearly a third of people nationwide (31%) would be more likely to invest via a p2p platform if they could do so through a NISA. According to Cormac Leech’s keynote presentation at the AltFi Summit in March, the advent of P2P NISAs is expected to increase the market size to around £45 billion over the next 10 years.
Top 10 towns/cities by money lent out through P2P
City/Town
Total Loan Amount
London
£11m
Bristol
£1.8m
Royston
£1.6m
Birmingham
£1.4m
Braintree
£1.05m
Worcester
£940,000
Preston
£895,000
Norwich
£755,000
Nottingham
£742,000
Brentwood
£677,000
Top 10 by average value of first deposit
Town
Average deposit
Bruton
£185,500
Ballinasloe
£100,000
Brixham
£83,500
Faringdon
£55,000
Little Waltham, Chelmsford
£50,000
Broadstone
£40,000
Edinburgh
£40,000
Colyton
£30,000
Droitwich
£30,000
Shetland
£29,000
Top 10 towns/cities for car loans
City/Town
Total number of loans
London
3,725
Manchester
1,259
Birmingham
1,179
Bristol
1,077
Glasgow
1,039
Nottingham
951
Leeds
804
Liverpool
751
Sheffield
737
Leicester
729
