The majority of loans in March were used for debt consolidation.
Consumers used over £155 million in second charge lending during March, registering a month-on-month increase in value of over 12%.
This is according to the latest research from Loans Warehouse, our preferred loans broker, which also found that lending in the first quarter of the year was up by more than 82% when compared to the same period in 2021.
Not only was the value of loans on the rise, but the number of completed second charge loans broke records too. For March, over 3,200 second charge loans were completed, beating the previous record held in November last year.
Much of this lending was used for debt consolidation, where borrowers take a loan to pay off their various existing debts and therefore owe one specific lender.
The benefits of this type of consolidation are that in some cases it can reduce the overall interest you have to pay on your debt, and with your debt all in one place it can be easier to manage.
The second biggest use of second charge lending during this month was for home improvements, for which demand has been on the rise.
Those who are looking to renovate their home to gain extra space should be aware of certain factors, according to our Finance Expert Rachel Springall.
These include reviewing their insurance policy once the works are complete, and the rising costs of both labour and goods for any projects.
