Non-bank finance group Chifley Securities has reported greatly increased levels of lending for the 2015-2016 financial year. The company, backed by a handful of high net worth investors, wrote loans totalling more than A$600 million to a range of investors, builders and property developers across Australia.The 20-month old group said it currently has $230 million in loans to projects in progress, with loans ranging in size from $1 million to $50 million in first mortgages, mezzanine, bridging and construction finance.Chifley Securities, which claimed to have capacity to lend up to a total of $1.1 billion, is finding a niche among commercial and residential property developers who do not fulfil the major banks' new, tighter requirements of pre-sales and added security, the firm said in a media release announcing its results yesterday.Director Joe Morello said the group was "providing finance for pre-sales guarantees of 65 per cent of total sales, bridging the gap that has opened up as the major banks have squeezed projects with a strong component of foreign sales."Morello added that the financial year had seen a surge of private equity, hedge and superannuation funds chasing higher returns of more than ten per cent from property finance through non-banks like Chifley Securities.During the year Chifley Securities launched a property development division, whose clients are now financing 15 projects worth $208 million in loans, mostly covering medium density residential developments in Sydney's western region, as well as Melbourne and other major cities.