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There is a negative imbalance between borrowers and lenders who take part in peer-to-peer (P2P) schemes in the Yorkshire area, according to data published by the Open Data Institute (ODI).

• Between October 2010 and May 2013, Yorkshire businesses and consumers borrowed £32,756,000 through P2P schemes - £12,172,000 more than the amount invested by lenders in the region.
• Of the money lent by Yorkshire lenders, only 9.7% remains in the region, while the largest share (14.1%) helps to fund small businesses in the South East.
• York is the only city in the region that lends more than it borrows, while Sheffield’s borrowers received the highest amount of funding, a total of £7,709,486. £3,177,211 more than was lent by individuals from the city.
• As a county, North Yorkshire lends more than it receives, with a net balance of £193,000.[1]

In the UK overall, over half a billion pounds has been lent to both consumers and businesses through P2P schemes.[2] Returns for lenders vary from four per cent up to over 15 per cent. London, the South East, the South West and the East of England have all lent more money than they have borrowed through the industry. However, the gap between borrowing and lending in Yorkshire is set to narrow. In a recent survey published by rebuildingsociety.com, the Leeds-based platform, results showed one in three Yorkshire consumers who understood P2P lending would lend through a platform, with half of those prepared to lend between £500 and £2,000. The biggest barrier is awareness, with three in five failing to understand the term.[3] rebuildingsociety.com pools 20 per cent of its membership from within the region - a proportionately high percentage when compared with other leading P2P lending companies nationwide. Nick Moules from rebuildingsociety.com added: “While borrowing over P2P platforms has clearly taken off in the region, Yorkshire’s consumers are yet to realise the benefits of lending these funds, which can offer before-tax returns of over ten per cent. “As a Yorkshire-based platform, we regularly encounter people in the region that are not familiar with the market, but once explained they can see the supply and demand gap, which has fuelled its success to date.” P2P lending is set to be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in April 2014, a move rebuildingsociety.com expects to expand the sector dramatically in Yorkshire and the UK. Ends Notes to editors:

• Open Data Institute data includes money lent to individuals and UK businesses from the period October 2010 and May 2013. It is drawn from data supplied by companies comprising over 90% of the market