Peer-to-peer secured lending platform Lendy has just signed up the 20,000th investor on its platform.

Its investor base has expanded by more than 50% from 13,000 in the last year alone and Lendy says this proves more investors are seeking a high-yielding element in their portfolios.

Of the 7,000 new investors that joined Lendy in the past year, there was a growth recorded in the under-40 age group, which now represents 50% of the platform’s investor base.

The company has seen a substantial rise in both new users and value of loan repayments made over the last year. Lendy investors have now received more than £37 million in interest from loans since 2012 (up from £16 million at the end of 2016), while the total value of loans made through the platform is now more than £373 million.

Lendy also made full repayments on five loans in February 2018 alone, including £2.3 million secured against a luxury apartment in Cheyne Gardens, Chelsea.

The lender offers investors loans returning between 7% and 12%, secured against UK property, at a maximum loan-to-value (LTV) of 70%. The average LTV on a Lendy loan written in 2017 was just 44%.

Liam Brooke, co-founder of Lendy, commented: “We’re all thrilled to have passed what is a major milestone in our development as a business. When we started Lendy in 2012, we believed that a lot of people would be interested in a high-yielding ‘kicker’ for their investment portfolios, and the support of 20,000 investors has shown that to be true.”

“The continued growth of our investor base is also an endorsement of the due diligence we undertake for our investors,” he added. “We have made a substantial investment in our personnel and resources for compliance and due diligence in the past year, and that is reflected in the loans we have brought to the platform.”