Since April 2020, and starting from such a low point for many sectors in the early stages of Covid-19, recovery has been more than a little stop-start.

There has been uncertainty surrounding our sector and many others.

In the general marketplace, there is still ambiguity on lending attitudes. We can see that furlough and payment holidays are still stinging for some of the lenders, and it comes with additional repercussions for certain customers — some of it related to employment status, some related to the sector they work in.

The self-employed are still not finding it particularly easy, and the same goes for those looking to borrow for buy-to-let purposes. Added to that is continued nervousness surrounding sectors that were heavily impacted in the pandemic, such as travel and retail.

Technology has been integral to the shift in lender split over the past 18 months

For people working in these sectors, some lenders have still not fully recalibrated and that can be a real challenge. People whose livelihoods are reliant on those sectors are still unable to borrow in the way they once could.

Going for growth

The secured lending market is, however, bouncing back — rates are low and there is a massive amount of flexibility, so there is a real opportunity for growth.

However, more awareness is needed across the market to leverage these opportunities.

In terms of the second charge market, the two big borrowing areas have continued to be around home improvements and debt consolidation. If nothing else, the past 18 months have given time for reflection to address these areas.

Investing in home improvements to add value to existing assets is still seen as a cost-effective way of progressing up the property ladder when the time is right.

Those with a greater fintech focus have been the ones to trade through these uncertain times

And with many people looking at their finances, whether to tighten belts or take advantage of a quieter time to consider all their financial options, debt consolidation has also been a prominent lending reason.

There’s certainly a view that a number of people have had to dig deep and live off a reduced income — some for over a year — and this has prompted them to take a closer look at their finances and actually take positive action to sort them out.

Finding a match

In our view, volumes behind second charge borrowing enquiries haven’t significantly changed from those we saw pre-pandemic. However, the key difference has been matching the enquiry to lenders.

In the last 18 months we have seen some lenders leave the market either temporarily or permanently; some new ones have gained traction as well as market share, and some have changed their lending policies to adapt to the changes we are seeing.

A number of people have had to live off a reduced income

Matching applicants — some often with unique requirements that are a product of their employment situation or the sector they operate within — to a lender that is able to provide a product to suit those individual needs has been the real challenge.

As we move into 2022, there is a huge opportunity for lenders to broaden their proposition, especially by utilising technology more.

We know that technology has been integral to the shift in lender split over the past 18 months. Those with a greater fintech focus have been the ones to trade through these uncertain times, while at the same time providing a service that more closely aligns to how we see customers and introducers expecting business to be conducted.

Those who can fuse the best people with best technology will gain the most ground.

Suzanne Aspden is group marketing director at Fluent Money