Fiduciam lends £9m at Easter

Bridging lender Fiduciam lent £9m in Easter week, and is still working with all its staff remotely.

The lender, which is owned by a pension fund, is on target to close another £10m of loans by the end of April.

The £9m of lending this week was mainly in the north of England, at an average of 55% LTV with a typical interest rate of 0.70% per month.

Johan Groothaert, chief executive of Fiduciam, said “We have seen many short-term lenders close their doors and this is a pity because it is today they are needed most, especially when lending to businesses.

“We are very concerned that the general lack of credit for SMEs will exacerbate the crisis, in fact it may be worse than the direct COVID-19 implications for many SMEs.

“We have, for instance, been approached by a health care SME that needed an urgent loan to fit out a new facility, with an agreed contract to provide beds to the NHS, but who had been unable to get finance. How is this possible?

“I am glad that Fiduciam’s diversified institutional funding model has proven to work during this crisis and we are grateful to our institutional partners for keeping their commitment to helping to fund small businesses and entrepreneurs in these difficult times.”

The LTVs against which Fiduciam lends are more conservative than prior to the crisis.

However the firm said demand for short-term business credit is comparable to record highs before the crisis.

Fiduciam is working together with RICS valuers and surveyors who still can visit premises.