Collapse of Carillion contributes to commercial lending fall

The collapse of Carillion has contributed to a 4% fall in lending to the commercial property sector in January 2018 to £4.10bn, peer-to-peer lending platform Lendy claims.

Related topics:  Commercial,  Commercial finance
Rozi Jones
16th April 2018
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"The unexpected fall in lending highlights just how big an impact Carillion has had on the commercial property industry."

Lendy says January is a month in which lending usually rises as new commercial building projects begin for the New Year.

It believes the collapse of Carillion, the biggest construction and outsourcing firm in the UK, created nervousness amongst many mainstream lenders over the construction sector.

Lendy adds that many commentators say there was a particular concern about whether smaller construction firms, whose main client was Carillion, would be able to stay in business.

Some traditional lenders have also seen their loan books severely affected by Carillion’s collapse, with Lloyds commercial banking writing off £108m of loans to the outsourcing firm. Santander have tripled their impairment costs in 2017 to £203m, citing bad loans made to Carillion.

Liam Brooke, co-founder of Lendy, said: “The unexpected fall in lending highlights just how big an impact Carillion has had on the commercial property industry.

“Lenders who have had to deal with heavy losses following Carillion’s collapse may think twice before giving loans for some future commercial real estate projects.

“However, the fundamentals of the construction sector remain strong, and the decline in lending from traditional sources, creates opportunities for non-traditional lenders to enter the marketplace.

“There are still numerous opportunities for lenders, both traditional and non-traditional to get involved in good, financially sound construction projects.”

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