The team at UK-based Blend Network, a peer-to-peer lending platform, notes that so far this year, they have funded the construction of 164 residential units, which is reportedly a mix of flats, houses and HMO units.
As noted in a blog post by Blend Network, this “represents an 11% increase compared to the number of residential units [they] funded in the whole of 2020 and a 156% increase from the units [they] funded in 2019.”
Blend Network‘s management stated:
“We are very proud of being able to support SME property developers and small construction companies who are working hard to build the homes the UK needs. As we all know, the UK has long suffered from a shortage of affordable housing. Estimates have put the number of new homes needed in England at up to 345,000 per year, accounting for new household formation and a backlog of existing need for suitable housing.”
In 2019/20, the total housing stock in England increased by about 244,000 homes. This is about 1% higher than the year before but is still “lower than estimated need.” So, the Blend Network team is quite pleased to be “able to put a small dent in the housing crisis by funding the construction of more much-needed homes.”
If you’re interested in finding out more about how you can become an investor and invest in property-secured loans to SME property developers, you can check out www.blendnetwork.com.
As covered in July 2021, Blend Network notes that Q2 2021 was a “fantastic quarter” for the service provider.
Blend Network also revealed that it listed and funded some of their biggest loans, “helping build much-needed homes across the UK.”
In June 2021, Blend listed and funded three different loans, which should help fund the construction of 40 residential units in total across East Sussex, Northamptonshire, and Dorset. Overall, the loans the platform “funded in Q2 will help with the construction of 69 much-needed residential units and two 6-bed HMOs in seven different locations across the UK,” the platform’s management confirmed.
They also revealed:
“We agreed funding for our largest-ever project, a £3,460,000 total net facility. The first tranche of this facility, a £1,100,000 loan, was funded by 279 investors on the 1st June. We won FinTech Business of the Year at the UK’s leading tech awards, the GoTech awards. This was an outstanding achievement for us and a highlight of our year so far.”
The Blend Network team further noted:
“We were selected as runners-up in the ‘Development Lender of the Year up to £10m’ category at the lending industry’s biggest awards, the Bridging & Commercial Awards. We were approved by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for Direct Authorization, another huge milestone for us at Blend Network, especially considering that only a handful of platforms have been approved over the past couple of years – a lot more used to get approved each year prior to 2019.”
During Q2 2021, a total of 1,052 registered Blend Network investors “lent on our loans,” the platform’s management revealed while adding that in June alone, “close to 600 lenders got the chance to lend on the loans we listed.”