The broker believes that last month’s lending broke a new record.

October lending was 12% higher than September’s figure of £110.2m, taking the total for 2021 up to £924.6m, meaning it is “almost guaranteed” to surpass £1bn by the year end, the broker predicts 

The number of completions jumped 56% year on year to 2,839 in October, marking a new record.

Loans Warehouse says that lending was boosted by new entrant Selina Finance and the removal of almost all pandemic restrictions.

It says that the previous peak in lending was £118m back in 2019.

The index uses figures supplied by lenders including Optimum Credit, Oplo, United Trust Bank, Together Money, Masthaven, Norton Home Loans, Equifinance, Evolution Money, Spring Finance and Selina Finance.