The specialist lender says the milestone comes after the business has closed five securitisations under the Castell securitisation platform and originated more than £1.8bn of second charge mortgages in total, with £800m worth of loans having already been redeemed.

Pepper Money treasurer Matt Blake says: “According to the Finance and Leasing Association, second charge lending in 2021 totalled £1.1bn, so breaking through £1bn on our loan book alone shows just what an important player Pepper Money is in this market.

“Throughout our lending, we have maintained ultra-low levels of loans in default and repossessions, and the majority of lending continues to be for either home improvements or debt consolidation.

“With the ongoing cost-of-living squeeze that is motivating more customers to take a more proactive approach to managing their finances, we expect debt consolidation to be a big theme in the coming months, providing brokers with a good opportunity to help their clients take greater control of their monthly expenditure.”

In February, the lender also said it had closed its largest residential mortgage-backed securitisation to date, Polaris 2022-1, backed by £450m of mortgage loans. The package is a mix of first charge owner-occupied and buy-to-let mortgage loans, with 25% of the portfolio being customers with legacy county court judgements.