Business as usual: Assetz Capital restarts retail lending operations

The alternative lender paused its retail lending at the start of the pandemic but has reopened business with a £1m bridging loan.

Alternative lender Assetz Capital has restarted retail lending after halting its lending following the initial economic shock of the pandemic. 

The lender resumes its retail lending with a £1m residential bridging loan that was funded in under two hours. 

The loan is secured against eight luxury apartments in Northern Ireland and is the first loan of many that will be made available for Manual Lending Account customers over the next few weeks. 

Stuart Law, CEO at Assetz Capital said: “While we’ve been very active in recent months with preparing and recently launching our CBILs lending, this Manual Lending Account bridging loan is an important milestone.” 

“Retail investors are the lifeblood of our marketplace, and the uptake of this first bridging loan vindicates our decision to restart retail lending alongside institutional.” 

Assetz Capital has been lending to SMEs and housebuilders across the UK under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) throughout the pandemic, having paused its retail lending amid the initial coronavirus-related market panic. 

CEO Law added: “With the possibility of negative interest rates on the horizon and a rollercoaster stock market with dividends being slashed, we still firmly believe peer-to-peer lending is a vital alternative investment class that sits well in a balanced investment portfolio.” 

“Not only that, but we are able to directly support SMEs and in turn jobs and the wider economy through this investment. We feel that investments such as ours will continue to attract a growing share of investors’ capital over the years to come.” 

Earlier this year, Assetz Capital also revealed that it had received a slice of the £500m Future Fund, joining a long list of fintechs to have accessed the fund, including fellow alternative lender Iwoca, financial management app Plum, proptech start-up Fronted and savings app Chip.