Crowdfund property platform targets ‘new generation’ of investors

A new crowdfunding platform says it’s opening up property investing to “a whole new generation.”

Allbricks claims it’s disrupting “the antiquated mortgage market” by allowing a buyer to purchase units of a property, which it calls ‘bricks’. Each brick has a minimum value of £100 or one per cent of the property price, whichever is higher.

In theory, property investors then fund the rest of the purchase price via the crowdfunding platform, with stamp duty split proportionally. The buyer pays rent to the investors at market rates on the ‘bricks’ they don't own.

Available initially in London with a view to scaling up to the rest of the UK, the people behind the scheme say prospective buyers - whether first timers or moving up the ladder - can potentially afford to buy any home they could afford to rent. It describes this as “true gradual home ownership” as homeowners can buy more bricks over time or buy their home outright.

Allbricks is available to first-time buyers and home movers who pass affordability checks, and they can choose any sort of property - this is not restricted to specific developers, new builds or leasehold properties. 

“As there’s no mortgage and no debt, the home buyer’s purchasing power is based on what they could comfortably afford to rent rather than mortgage-based income multipliers” says a statement from Allbricks.

It continues: “Ultimately, the homeowner is in the driving seat. Provided they keep up with monthly payments, they can keep pets and make their own interior design choices (as long as they don’t reduce the home’s value). Once the first investors have owned their bricks for three years, homeowners get the chance to buy five per cent of them annually. And the more the homeowner buys, the smaller their rent payment to the investors.”

There’s also a property management programme on offer which includes a dedicated property manager, buildings insurance, regular gas/electrical safety inspections and an annual repairs budget.

An advisor to Allbricks is Athena Hubble - formerly managing director of the collapsed property portal Boomin, set up by the founders of Purplebricks - and she says: “The Allbricks approach is truly innovative and a fresh take on an old problem. Between the time it takes to save for deposits, affordability limits imposed by mortgage providers and now interest rate rises, it’s an almost impossible environment for buyers of all kinds.

“We know it can take over 10 years to save for the traditional deposits required by mortgage providers. There are millions of renters or homeowners with one to four per cent deposits already saved who will now be free to buy the home of their dreams or move up the property ladder. Allbricks could make the instability of traditional renting a thing of the past and make buying a home in London achievable once again.”

Allbricks chief executive Shahram Shaida adds: “Mortgages have been helping people into homes since the 12th century, but the world has moved on - we’ve now got outdated systems of lending dragging people down with them. Other solutions have just tinkered with different mortgage levers, but we’ve created a whole new model. The launch of Allbricks today brings a modern alternative, developed over six years, that democratises wealth creation by unitising UK home ownership and property investment.

“We’ve written off a generation, casually calling them ‘Generation Rent’, when they still want to own their own home. A system that’s more inclusive, that keeps people in their communities and makes home ownership more accessible is well overdue. 

“My mission is to put the fading dream of home ownership back within reach. By bringing together those who want to own a home and investors who can contribute to that goal, we’re aiming to disrupt a market that has been closed to so many for too long.”

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