Secured lending totaled over £493 million for 2013, after reporting the best December since 2007.

Total lending in the industry reached £493,279,637 for the year according to the latest Secured Loans Index, with £40 million lent out during December.

Whilst figures for December indicate a decrease of 12.71 per cent from November, they do however show a 66.5 per cent increase on the same period from last year.

Q4 has been the biggest quarter the industry has seen since 2009 at £138,470,000, and December marks an incredible 26th month of successive year on year growth.

Speaking on the results, Matt Tristram, Co-Founder & Director of Loans Warehouse & Clearly Loans, said: “The FLA revealed last week that overall consumer finance new business grew by 6 per cent year-on-year, with secured loans showing the biggest percentage increase.”

Over the year, five new lenders joined the prospering industry, FinSec, TFS, Firmus, Clearly and now Precise Mortgages.

Michael Coogan, Strategic Advisor at Loans Warehouse, looked ahead at what 2014 has in store for the market: “2014 is a momentous year for the lending industry in the UK.  Within the secured loans sector, demand will ensure market growth continues, and loans will be at historically attractive interest rates. What is less clear is how and when the move to a new regulator will change the structure of the secured lending and broker sectors. 

“Unless the FCA chooses to carry out thematic work into how the market operates, as part of its business plan for 2014, I would suspect that the most significant impact will be felt not this April, or indeed in 2014, but rather when the UK implements the European Mortgage Directive. Further FCA consultation is planned in the spring, and it is at that stage that structural changes in the market may be easier to identify.

“In the meantime, for mortgage prisoners who can afford to borrow, and can do so responsibly, the secured loan sector will continue to fill the gap created by risk aversion in the mainstream mortgage market.”