Is second charge now bigger than bridging?

26 January 2026

Second charge lending has officially passed £2bn annually, with completion volumes now reaching a scale that puts it firmly alongside other major specialist finance markets and potentially ahead when measured by the number of completed deals.

Second charge lending has moved decisively, with the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) confirming continued growth and a new annual milestone for the market.

Latest reporting shows the second charge sector has now reached £2.045bn in lending over the last 12 months, meaning the industry has officially passed the £2bn per year mark — levels not seen since 2005.

Momentum remains strong, with the FLA reporting that new second charge business volumes rose 27% year-on-year in November 2025, alongside a 28% annual increase by value.

However, while lenders and investors often measure market importance by total lending value (£), consumers and brokers experience lending far more simply: a deal is a deal.

That’s why the completion figures behind the headline are arguably the bigger story. In November 2025 alone, the market delivered 3,934 second charge agreements, and across the three months to November, second charge lending totalled 11,958 new loans.

Second charge completions now compare with bridging — in number of loans, not just lending value

Second charge is still often described as “specialist lending”, but the scale of completions now places it firmly alongside other broker-led finance markets, particularly bridging, when measured by the number of completed deals.

By comparison, BDLA reporting shows bridging completions totalled £2.8bn in Q1 2025, with widely reported average bridging loan sizes of around £540,000 during the same period.

Based on those published figures, this implies an estimated 5,000 bridging completions per quarter (calculated as total completions value divided by average loan size), meaning second charge lending is now operating at a comparable — and potentially higher — level in unit completion terms, even where the two sectors serve different borrower needs and loan sizes.

Crossing £2bn is a landmark moment for second charge lending — but the bigger story is what sits behind it: completion volumes that now prove second charge is a mainstream lending route. When the market is completing nearly 4,000 loans in a single month, that’s not a niche product anymore - that’s scale.

For years, the specialist finance conversation has focused heavily on the ‘£ value’ of markets like bridging — but consumers don’t think in those terms. From their point of view, a completed deal is a completed deal. And when you compare the likely number of bridging completions against second charge loan counts, it’s clear second charge is now firmly in that same bracket — and in pure unit terms, it may even be bigger.

Loans Warehouse has long believed second charge should be viewed as a core part of modern advice. Whether the goal is home improvements, debt consolidation, or raising capital while preserving a competitive first-charge rate, this market is now delivering outcomes at a wider level.”