Proplend launches VAT lending product
Proplend has launched commercial property VAT loans and appointed an industry veteran to help roll out the new product.
As Peer2Peer Finance News reported in January, the peer-to-peer commercial property lending platform used the lockdown period at the start of this year to evaluate its product offerings and started working on the new loan product, which helps property investors pay VAT due on purchases.
Proplend said that this is a short-term loan for a property investor where the property being purchased is elected for VAT. The borrower pays the VAT to HMRC and makes a simultaneous VAT rebate claim.
VAT lending expert Peter Bloom has been appointed as a non-executive director of Proplend.
Bloom co-founded BloomSmiths in 2015 – one of the first specialist VAT lending companies in the UK.
He has over 30 years of experience in the acquisition and disposal of commercial property investments, combined with a deep understanding of VAT lending, Proplend said.
He will assist in launching and growing the platform’s new VAT lending product and contribute to the wider ongoing strategy of the business.
“I have been keen to launch a VAT lending product to complement our existing commercial bridge and term loans for a while and meeting Peter was a very timely event,” said Proplend founder and chief executive Brian Bartaby.
“The way in which we are operate and are funded means that borrowers will ultimately benefit from a cheaper overall transaction cost.
“Not only will we be the first platform to offer VAT loans, but we can also save borrowers both time and money by offering a senior debt and VAT loan combination. Peter’s 30 years of commercial property experience combined with his visionary VAT lending knowledge, is a very welcome addition to our small and entrepreneurial team.”
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“Having created the first specialised property VAT lending product, which I launched through Bloomsmith, I was very excited to be invited by Brian to join his team in the next evolution, embedding VAT lending within a fintech platform,” said Bloom. “Offering VAT bridge loans via Proplend’s technology platform is the next advancement in lending and could not have come at a better time.”
Proplend has been busy with a number of new products this year. In March, it launched AutoLend 2, a new functionality that gives lenders the flexibility of turning their investing on and off.
This comprises an auto-investing product known as Always On and a manual investing product called Self Select.
Always On is for ‘hands-off’ lenders who wish to automatically invest funds based on their set criteria while Self Select is for those who wish to choose the individual loans themselves.
Proplend has now lent out £130m since inception.