Bridging lender Hope Capital has launched in Scotland and is now looking for new underwriters and business development managers to help with its ongoing expansion.
Hope Capital was established in 2011 and is a privately run and funded bridging firm, operating currently across England and Wales.
It has an initial tranche of £10m worth of funds for Scotland, which will then be “expanded and grown”. Hope will lend on commercial and residential property with non-regulated loans of up to £1.5m for six months or less and a 75 per cent maximum loan-to-value.
Operating throughout England and Wales until now, Hope Capital more than doubled its loan book last year and expects to quadruple this again this year. It also doubled its staff numbers in the last year and is looking to do so again as the business grows.
Jonathan Sealey, chief executive at Hope Capital, said: “The time is absolutely right for Hope Capital to expand into Scotland. With both the referendum and post election uncertainty out of the way there is a lot of positive sentiment in Scotland at the moment; the number of property transactions is increasing and house prices are soaring.
“Since we started exploring the opportunity to operate in Scotland earlier in the year we have already had a number of very interested parties looking to work with us.
“As we do in the rest of England and Wales, we are only looking to lend through the intermediary community; it is advisers that we have our relationships with and we are incredibly loyal to this sector.”
donia.o’loughlin@ft.com
