Eight lenders join new RLS, but still no P2Ps
Eight lenders have now been accredited by the British Business Bank (BBB) to deliver the new iteration of the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS).
BCRS Business Loans, HSBC, and Genesis Asset Finance have all joined the new government lending scheme, joining Bank of Scotland, Coventry & Warwickshire Reinvestment Trust, Lloyds Bank, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland.
The first five lenders were announced on 10 August.
Read more: First lenders revealed for RLS follow-on scheme
The follow-on to the £4.5bn RLS programme is designed to help businesses recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the ongoing cost of living crisis.
It is less generous than the original scheme, with the government underwriting 70 per cent of the value of each loan, rather than 80 per cent.
The original RLS allowed businesses to apply for loans up to the value of £10m, with interest rates capped at 14.99 per cent. However, the new version of the scheme will cap loan values at £2m, or £1m for businesses in Northern Ireland. Fees will still be capped at 14.99 per cent.
Read more: Details of updated Recovery Loan Scheme revealed
The BBB has said that it is reviewing applications from “a wide range of lender types”, including platform lenders, debt funds, invoice finance lenders, asset finance lenders and other alternative lenders.
However, to date no peer-to-peer lending platforms or other alternative lenders have yet been approved for the latest RLS.
76 lenders were accredited to offer the original RLS, including Assetz Capital, Funding Circle and LendingCrowd.
Read more: RLS delivered £4.5bn to UK businesses