British investors have a centuries-old affection for property – and no wonder. Property is one of the lowest risk, best returning investments you can make. Bricks and mortar are also, arguably, the most tangible and best understood asset class of all.
But while many of us might aspire to become buy-to-let landlords, the costs, hard work and red tape involved have, until now, put off all but the truly committed and relatively wealthy.
These days, the challenges and complexity of the process make it much like starting a business. Managing tenants and maintaining properties is time consuming and stressful.
But all this is changing fast as the crowdfunding revolution comes to the property sector.
EASIER WAY TO INVEST
Property Partner is a technology-driven property investment platform and marketplace, enabling investors to acquire, own and trade shares in high-quality UK residential property at the click of a button, without the hassle of mortgages, solicitors or maintenance.
Shareholders receive rental income each month in the form of dividends and can realise capital gains if the property rises in value. The letting and management is carried out by professional agents on behalf of investors, so there are no late-night calls about dripping taps to deal with.
To date, Property Partner has funded more than 346 UK properties, making it easy for investors to spread their risk by diversifying their portfolio. Founded in 2014, the Financial Conduct Authority-regulated platform is producing a current estimated return of 7 per cent* a year after fees.
This performance has attracted more than 9,700 individual investors who have invested over £46 million of equity across primary listings and secondary market trades. There’s also reassurance in the way the assets are owned. Each property investment is held in a limited company called a special purpose vehicle (SPV).
This means it is totally ringfenced from the assets and liabilities of Property Partner and the other investments on the platform.
SIMPLE SALE
Property Partner has created the world’s first and biggest property exchange. This marketplace gives investors the opportunity to exit the market at a time and price of their choosing. Investors can realise capital returns by selling their shares on platform and pocket 100 per cent of the proceeds as there are no exit fees to pay. More than £11.3 million in shares have already been traded on the marketplace, bringing liquidity to an illiquid asset class.
BETTER FOR BUILDERS, BETTER FOR TENANTS
Investors aren’t the only ones to benefit from the Property Partner model. By providing much-needed cash flow to small developers, the company is also doing its bit to boost housing supply. In one example, Property Partner bought four new-build homes from a local developer in East Sussex, freeing him up to move on to his next project and providing an investment opportunity that was crowdfunded in just 28 minutes.
Property Partner could well be the future for investors in bricks and mortar
But these properties aren’t just investments, they’re also people’s homes. For Property Partner, tenants are just as important as investors. That’s why it sets fair rents, fixes problems quickly and invests in upgrading its estate – because happy tenants stay longer, so good landlords make good returns.
LEADING UK PROFESSIONALS
Aside from being FCA regulated and audited by KPMG, Property Partner has attracted some of the best-known and most established names in property, technology and finance.
Director of property Robert Weaver is one of the most accomplished and respected residential property professionals in the UK. As former global director of residential property at RBS, he’s an expert at hand-picking properties that outperform for investors.
Its board of directors includes Ed Wray, co-founder of Betfair, and Neil Rimer, co-founder of the global venture capital firm Index Ventures, who has invested in market-defining companies across the technology and finance sectors including Funding Circle and TransferWise.
Property Partner’s own aspirations are no less ambitious. Soon its investors will be able to choose from properties all over the UK, Europe and beyond – and the ultimate aim is to create a global stock exchange for residential property.
CASE STUDY: MEET THE BALCOMBS: LIKE FATHER LIKE SON
The Balcomb family are evidently smart with their money – both father and son have investments across a range of asset classes. Oliver introduced his father, David, to the platform after vetting it for a few months. Despite being a generation apart and having different investment goals, they like Property Partner for the same reasons.
Oliver uses Property Partner to track the market while he saves to buy his own place: “Property Partner is a key investment of mine as I build my deposit – I see it as the best place to keep it. The property market in the UK is a lot less volatile than shares and Property Partner has opened up the market to everyone.”
David, however, already owns one buy to let, but he now considers Property Partner to be a better way to invest and has split his funds across ten different properties, minimising his risk: “Property Partner is an excellent opportunity to invest in a market that wasn’t available before. It represents a positive alternative to the stock market, which is very volatile.”
They both agree that Property Partner could well be the future for investors in bricks and mortar.
For more information please visit www.propertypartner.co
The value of your investment can go down as well as up. Forecasts are not a reliable indicator of future performance. Gross rent and dividends may be lower than estimated. Five yearly exit protection or exit on platform subject to price and demand. Financial promotion by London House Exchange Limited (8820870); authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (No 613499).
* Properties on our platform have, on average, after all fees and before personal taxation, delivered an estimated annualised total return of more than 7 per cent, including approximately 3 per cent net rental income (dividends) and 4 per cent in capital value growth. These estimated returns are calculated quarterly, (i) with reference to the average dividend yields and price movements of all previous listings, (ii) spreading over five years any purchase discount to the RICS valuation, and (iii) assuming the property remains tenanted. We are champions of transparency and you can download the objective data used to calculate this estimated return on the website.
