Family-run property business Oval Estates has secured two loans worth £317,000 in a deal described as the largest amount lent to a single company via a social lending site.
The Radstock-based business, which develops and builds between 50 and 60 residential homes each year, predominantly in the South West, secured the loans via online marketplace ThinCats.com, a new entrant to the alternative funding market. It plans to use the money to partially fund a 60-bed care home with facilities for dementia sufferers and a retirement village in Radstock.

Since launching in January 2011 ThinCats.com has facilitated 15 loans to UK businesses to the value of £2.1m.