Aspen Bridging has announced it will lend on “pre Covid-19 property values”, becoming the first UK lender to do so.
 
The bridging lender said all valuation bases are to be provided on the “special assumption of normal market conditions” as of 1 March 2020, before the Government announced the lockdown, and before several other associated economic impacts of coronavirus.
  
Aspen Bridging was one of the first lenders to introduce desktop valuations amid the surveying shutdown, which the lender suggested “poses a major obstacle for the specialist finance industry”.

The lender also indicated it took the “unprecedented step” to counter a pattern of valuers applying blanket 5-25% reductions in valuation prices during the pandemic, suggesting this in turn creates “deep uncertainty” for clients and brokers in terms of the loan amounts available.
 
Aspen Bridging director, Jack Coombs, commented: “By taking the value of a property on 1 March 2020 we have created market-leading leverage for every single application, and in turn generated a transparent, easy-to-understand offering.
 
“In today’s market, based on desktop valuation bridging we control our risk with a 62.5% LTV limit, which still represents one of the leading figures.
 
“Lenders who are low geared or equity funded like us will continue to reliably operate and offer brokers and customers a credible lending service, and we will continue to introduce innovative ideas to deliver on our promises.”

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