New property investment platform launches
A new FCA authorised residential property investment platform has been launched today – focusing solely on the construction of new homes.
Homegrown is to enable retail investors to access residential development projects alongside institutional investors and is targeting average net returns of 15% per annum. The minimum investment permitted is £500 per project.
Developments
The platform is only to invest in pre-vetted and fully underwritten residential developments that have already received planning permission and bank finance.
Then, Homegrown is to add its own layer of due diligence , which will include analysing financial assumptions and reports, undertaking sensitivity analysis and investing in projects with developers with a strong track record.
The firm’s aim is to raise funds available to mid-size developers and to ‘democratise property investment, which historically has been restricted to high net worth and institutional investors.’
Homegrown is to focus its activities on urban areas when there is heightened demand – most predominantly in London and the South East.
New property investment platform launches
Everyday Investors
Anthony Rushworth, CEO of Homegrown, commented: ‘Homegrown is about giving everyday investors access to the often superior development returns that are typically only available to professionals and institutions. It also helps them to do their bit in solving the housing crisis by providing property developers with much needed equity finance.’
‘We also like to think we’re filling a major hole for many UK investors left by the buy-to-let exodus. With the raft of tax changes imposed on it, buy-to-let is no longer the investment it was and investors are increasingly looking for alternatives. Homegrown, by contrast, does away with the reliance on rental yields and long term property market growth.’
‘Crucially, the developments we put on our platform have already been underwritten and approved by some of the sharpest minds in the business, and we take the cream of that crop.’
‘There are clearly risks involved with property investment but we work hard to de-risk our investments as much as we can. The platform also provides investors with an opportunity to easily diversify their risk by spreading their investment across a number of developments which are being added to our platform all the time.’[1]
[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/business/new-residential-property-investment-platform-launches.html