Its BTL lending pipeline has now grown to £778.9m, up from the £604.2m recorded in 2017.

The specialist banking group also announced that underlying pre-tax profit increased by 7.8% year-on-year to £156.5m.

It has diversified its funding model with deposit balances reaching £5.3bn, an increase of 46.5% from last year.

Elsewhere, commercial lending volumes rose by 82.6% to £710m (2017: £388.9m).

This increase was helped by its acquisitions of professions finance lender Iceberg and development finance lender Titlestone in the last 12 months.

Nigel Terrington, chief executive at Paragon (pictured above), said: “We have delivered another strong financial performance, with increased profits driven by broader lending growth and enhanced margins, while maintaining our high credit standards.

“In the last year, we have made great strides in our strategy to become a leading UK-based specialist banking group.

“A combination of new start-up ventures and acquisitions means we now offer an increasingly broad range of products, supporting British savers, homeowners, landlords, consumers and small businesses.

“The restructuring of our business last year enabled us to improve the efficiency of the allocation of our resources and capital.

“The broadening of our product range – coupled with our strong asset quality – leaves us well placed to deliver further targeted growth in the years ahead.”