Lending through alternative finance platforms hit a new record in July with £252.3m of new loans originated – up £32m from the previous month, analysis from Altfi Data suggests.

The top three platforms by origination volume were Zopa (£52.2m) Funding Circle (£47.5m) and RateSettter (£43.5m).

The website dedicated to the alternative finance sector suggested 31% of the platforms within the index set themselves new monthly origination records with overall origination volume growing 65% compared to July last year.

Property, bridging and business lending platform Funding Knight offers loans secured against property and set a monthly lending record in July. MarketInvoice also set a new monthly lending record – the platform offers businesses invoice finance.