The total number of completions increased by 10% to 2,839 last month, while average completion times were at 17 days, 1.7 days faster than the month before.

The majority of products were provided under 85% loan-to-value (LTV) at 74.58%.

The most popular reason for taking out a loan was consolidation at 45.72%, followed by consolidation and home improvements at 29.78%.

Matt Tristram, managing director or Loans Warehouse, said: “The figures reported directly to Loans Warehouse from second charge lenders confirm lending totalled £123.6m in October 2021.

“Researching figures published by the FLA since the Credit Crunch, we believe these figures, boosted by the addition of the industry’s newest entrant Selina Finance and the removal of almost all pandemic restrictions, are the highest recorded under FCA regulation, which peaked back in 2019 at £118m.

“The actual number of completions has significantly increased month on month, jumping from 2,588 in September to 2,839 in October, again marking a new record.

“This takes year to date second charge lending to £924.6m making the possibility of a billion pound lending year almost guaranteed.”