AltFi Data projects £7.5bn in new origination volume in the UK in 2018.
In what has become an annual exercise, AltFi Data has unveiled its projections for 2018 lending volumes. Each of the core marketplace lending sectors covered – the UK, EU and US – is expected to produce significant origination growth in 2018, with Continental Europe leading the way.
AltFi Data anticipates €2.8bn being lent in Europe this year, representing a year on year increase of 73 per cent. The strongest growth is expected from Europe's property and consumer lending sectors, which are expected to grow 102 per cent and 79 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, £7.5bn of new loan origination is anticipated in the UK, a 43 per cent year on year increase, with $38.9bn expected in the US, which represents growth of 46 per cent. In the US (by far the largest marketplace lending sector of the three covered by AltFi Data), consumer lending platforms exhibited the steepest rate of growth of any US sub-sector, at 51 per cent.
The latest projections follow on from last year’s, which may now be squared with reality. In all three geographies, eventual growth rates for 2017 were “materially underestimated”, due to a significant recovery in the second half of the year.
This is welcome news for what was a beleaguered sector – especially in the US – in early 2017. The departure of several key figures and concerns over credit quality had marketplace lenders reeling. But these latest numbers from AltFi Data underscore what has been known for a while: 2017 was a bounce-back year for the marketplace lending sector globally.
Below are the projection charts for the UK, EU and US marketplace lending sectors.
