YBS: The future’s bright

The future’s bright

The future’s professional and commercial

Mike Davies

Head of Business Development YBS Commercial

When 2021 began, we had great hopes that things would get back to normal. Now that year is at an end, it is clear it was far from normal but despite the unusual challenges we have delivered some great outcomes for our borrowers and brokers. Our lending grew by 150% and we’re proud to have been able to support more borrowers who have needed us more than ever before.

We have also built stronger, better connections with our brokers as well as increasing the broker panel by 50%. This has been achieved by increasing the number of relationship directors alongside the steps we have taken to unwind policies introduced at the start of the pandemic. For example, we are now lending again in the leisure sector.

We also listened to broker feedback and have launched a variety of new propositions designed to support the market in the best way possible.

Our proposition

At the very start of lockdown, we took the decision to keep on lending and to continually find ways to increase our overall levels of lending. This proposition remains unchanged and our commitment to the commercial real estate sector in the UK is undiminished. In fact, we’re aiming to maintain the momentum we generated in 2021.

We are clear about where we see ourselves in the market and where our product and service best meet the needs of borrowers and brokers. Our service proposition is based around brokers and borrowers getting a personal service from us by always having a named contact in our team to support them at every step, from application to completion. In support of this personal service, we are introducing more automation to enhance the efficiency and use of the broker portal.

Our product range has been developed with experienced portfolio investors in mind. Our buy-to-let range features fixed rates as well as specialist products designed to serve the holiday let, HMO and semi-commercial markets, all of which can be blended to support a portfolio investor. Similarly, our commercial investment product works well for a broad range of industry sectors and again, can be tailored to meet the needs of experienced portfolio investors.

The market in 2021

In the commercial market, one of the year’s success stories for lenders, brokers and borrowers was the surge in demand for holiday lets. With foreign travel largely out of the question, we witnessed a huge increase in people holidaying in the UK. Lenders responded with specialist products, and brokers supported clients who recognised and capitalised on the opportunity.

The buy-to-let sector also saw significant growth as a result of increases in demand for housing, and higher house prices. Experienced investors

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“The commercial property sector is at the core of the UK economy, and will remain an essential part of any post-lockdown economic recovery

expanded their portfolios, and there’s been a trend towards professionalisation in the sector.

What is clear, is that the commercial property sector is at the core of the UK economy and will remain an essential part of any post-lockdown economic recovery.

By remaining open to new business at the start of the pandemic, we maintained our support for investment, and accelerated that support throughout 2021.

Looking forward

I expect that investors’ demand for quality properties and growing sectoral confidence will result in increased levels of commercial lending in 2022.

For YBS Commercial, we will continue our focus on broker service, delivered through dedicated points of contact with strong working relationships, and by increasing our lending appetite even more.

As for the pandemic – we’re optimistic. The past 18 months stand as testament to the resilience of the commercial finance market as a whole and the participants in the industry: brokers, investors, lenders, and professional firms. At YBS Commercial, in 2022 we’ll be striving to enhance our propositions and our range, continually improving what we do.

Taking a broader view, any further increases in interest rates will impact the sector as will any regulatory changes, but we believe that the commercial real estate sector in the UK is robust and can bear systemic shocks. With balanced decision making at regulatory and governmental levels we see 2022 as a year where opportunities can be taken.

Finally, there is the impact of technology, which was moved on significantly by the pandemic. Here at YBS Commercial, we have embraced a hybrid approach to work and recognised the wider role that technology will play on the sector in future. For example, the increased use of Application Programming Interface (API) technology which saves time and money, helps to reduce risk and allows brokers to concentrate on the things that matter, like customer service and relationship-building.

Whatever 2022 brings, we feel confident that as a sector, as we’ve proved so many times over the last 18 months, we’ll be ready for the challenge!

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