Dear @magenta14 (/forum members)
We are still assessing the appetite for the bonds, and will be able to confirm in due course whether we will be offering the product and at what rates.
We have needed to change our proposition and model over the course of this year, and this has been largely down to us needing to respond to FCA requirements. We are aware however that some of these changes have not had a favourable response from some investors, particularly those who have been with the platform for some time. At times I can concede that their communication could have been clearer. They are however changes that we have needed to make.
Lendy does not undertake valuations. This role is performed by independent RICS-registered valuers. We use the same quality of valuer, and legal firm, as the top high street banks. There is property valuation risk, however, which is why we cover it clearly in our risk and Managing Risk statements - lendy.co.uk/managing-risk/property. We believe we take all reasonable steps to ensure property valuations are accurate.
On communications, I disagree with you. While there is still a lot to do (we are still a very lean machine), I believe there has been a lot of improvements, particularly if you compare them with this time last year, where, for example, communications were irregular and the website had much less content and it did not have a Help Centre, FAQ or news sections. I also disagree with you about the loan updates. It is of course subjective, but linking to loan updates, with search, and alerts, and not dumping them all in an email is far better and far cleaner in our view. And while it has sparked discussions on the forum, we have had positive feedback. I will though look at some ideas to make them as accessible as possible.
With regards the Weekly Round-up, we aim to provide a flavour of the things that we believe should be of interest to people investing via P2P, and in the UK property market in particular. Most of the topics are either news that the P2P media is also picking up (i.e. health of the UK p2p funded property market) or we are being asked to comment on by the media and other sector stakeholders. I will be looking at including a platform route map update at least once a month to avoid too many surprises.
We would however like to hear more from our investors, so if you or others on the forum would like to submit ideas, comments etc. I will happily review and look to publish when we have space, as we do do regularly with investor tips.
On the matter of unsold loan parts, this again was a regulatory requirement in us not being allowed to provide credit to cover shortfalls.
While some might not appreciate how much we do take our responsibilities to lenders seriously, and do our utmost to help them mitigate risk, there will always be a level of risk when it comes to investing, in whatever asset class you choose to invest in. It's for this reason that we have invested heavily in our recovery programme, and have had a lot of success since July this year. Again though, still work to do. Thank you for recognising the work does to date.
There has been various discussions on the forum in relation to the Telegraph, and our late reporting of our accounts. The first matter was resolved to our satisfaction, and we have thanked the Telegraph for retrospectively listening to our arguments. The final case file is available here -
www.ipso.co.uk/rulings-and-resolution-statements/ruling/?id=19479-17.
With regards Companies House, we are a little late with our filing but we have been in communication with CH who have been happy to grant us an extension. We needed to make a change to our auditors to a company that was a more suitable fit to meet current corporate structure, and that coincided with our filing deadlines. The strike off notice should be removed over the next 48-36 hours.
I am disappointed that we are losing you as an investor. I do however respect your reasons for moving away. I hope though that over time that we can rebuild your trust and that you do gradually come back.
All the best
Paul64