Business mortgage enquiries – which provide a good barometer of small businesses’ long-term financial appetite – also increased substantially on the month, up by three-quarters compared to September 2016.
Applicants came from a range of businesses such as restaurants, bars and other consumer-facing enterprises, in what could be seen as a renewed vote of confidence for the high street.
Regionally, small businesses in London powered the growth with nearly two thirds of enquiries coming from the capital – more than six times the value of enquiries from the region with the second biggest appetite for finance, the Midlands.
This uplift in commercial mortgage enquiries follows the NACFB’s annual results from earlier this year, which revealed that £5.2bn of commercial mortgage business was written in the year ending 30th June 2016, up by more than half on the previous year – and the second strongest area of growth for NACFB’s members after bridging finance.
Paul Goodman, chairman of the NACFB, comments: “Appetite for commercial mortgage finance is a good indicator of small business confidence as it shows firms are confident enough to commit to the long term.
Last month we saw a huge uplift in enquiries from a variety of businesses – ranging from publicans and smaller retailers to hairdressers and restaurants – so it’s starting to feel like the SME community has got over any Brexit-related nerves.
While some of those businesses will also be looking to avoid steep commercial rents, especially in the capital, the confidence to take out a commercial mortgage bodes well for the future.”
