Member Article

First raise completion for property development crowdfunders, ShareProperty

A new crowdfunding company that enables people to start building an investment grade property development portfolio by investing as little as £100, has announced the completion of its first investment property raise.

ShareProperty has announced its first property completion, having successfully crowdfunded more than £34,000 for the purchase of a high-quality commercial property near Stratford, a few minutes from the Olympic Park in London.

The firm was founded by 26-year-old financial-technology entrepreneur George Grigg and ex-City investment banker David Rees, following a successful 4-day Seedrs raise of just under £150k. ShareProperty aims to open up the property investment sector, and enable property investment access to more people than ever before.

Described as a technology-driven approach to property investment, ShareProperty provides touch-of-a-button access to ready-made property development investments. The company believes it is unique in the property-crowdfunding space due to its specialist approach to targeting large, modern, new-build development complexes across the UK.

The platform allows investors to easily acquire shares in property through a crowdfunding vehicle which purchases buy-to-let investment units from developers. Investors can buy small shares across multiple investments, managing a diverse portfolio of investments on a simple dashboard, and receive returns directly into their bank account.

Co-founder, George Grigg said: “Being able to invest in property and build a portfolio can seem like a distant dream for lots of people, and we want to change that. Our team and partners of industry experts are there to manage the entire process from beginning to end, and provide a solid basis in which to get involved pretty easily in property investment usually only available to large-scale investors and investment companies and funds.

“All they need to do is browse through the properties we have live, select the ones they want to invest in, and the amount they want to invest. They then receive communications and any returns, as well as management tools. There’ll be more updates and innovations in the near future as we’re keen to progress the platform quickly.”

The company’s first fully-crowdfunded property is a serviced office development in East London called Regent88; a popular unit situated in the fast growing area of Stratford, which recieved £12.5bn of private and public sector investment as a result of the 2012 Olympic Games(Currell).

The East London area has seen average house prices climb 60% between 2010-2015, as a result of large-scale regeneration initiatives across East and South London and a local property surge following the London Olympics in 2012 (Homes and Property, 2016). The combined ‘crowd’ made to purchase this investment are expected to benefit from promising projected capital appreciation figures and a long-term developer assured net annual income of 8%.

Aspiring to change perceptions of property investment as being inaccessible, tax-expensive, materially expensive, complicated, stressful, and risky, ShareProperty’s ethos is one of straight-forward simplicity. Its founders believe the business model has the potential to level the playing field and open up opportunities currently being snapped up by large companies and international investors.

While the minimum investment is just £100, there is no maximum limit, opening up opportunities for high-net-worth individuals and retail investors to access the platform.

ShareProperty currently has around fifty more development properties in the pipeline, including a mix of flats, student accommodation, co-working spaces, offices, and hotels. To view properties currently available for investment on the ShareProperty platform, visit shareproperty.co.uk

Investing via the ShareProperty platform may involve risk, including illiquidity, lack of dividends and should only be done as part of a diversified portfolio. Your capital is at risk if you invest. ShareProperty are unable to provide advice to any individual unless they register as a Professional Client.

Shareproperty Limited (FRN: 740242) is an Appointed Representative of Kession Capital LImited (FRN: 582160) which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Hannah Jones .