Landbay partners with Zoopla on buy-to-let P2P product
PEER-TO-PEER platform Landbay has partnered with Zoopla so that consumers can invest in buy-to-let mortgages via the property website.
Investors can put as little as £100 into buy-to-let mortgages via Zoopla’s new ‘Invest’ channel, which was announced today.
Landbay connects professional buy-to-let landlords with investors and provides them with a loan secured against the property. This is statistically the lowest-risk form of P2P lending, according to Zoopla and Landbay.
“This partnership with Zoopla Invest is a natural next step for us at Landbay,” said Landbay’s chief executive and co-founder John Goodall (pictured).
“Investors haven’t had the smoothest of rides this year, and with interest rates falling to record lows last month, many people are understandably just looking for a reliable and rewarding place to put their money.
“We’re looking forward to giving property minded Zoopla customers yet another way of benefiting financially from the growth and resilience of the burgeoning buy-to-let market, and to continue bringing alternative investments into the mainstream.”
Clare Joy, communications manager at Landbay, told Peer-to-Peer Finance News that Zoopla is not going to work with any other P2P platforms.
“It’s great for brand awareness and Zoopla invested in us earlier in the year so it’s good to be partnering with them now,” she added.
Earlier in the year, Zoopla announced that it would be investing £1m in four property technology firms, including Landbay.
“We are delighted to be launching this great opportunity for anyone to invest in the UK property market from as little as £100,” said Alex Chesterman, founder and chief executive of Zoopla.
“Property investment has never been available to the masses before in this way and for those looking to get onto the property ladder or saving towards a property purchase, the ability to ensure that their investments keep pace with the property market is essential.”
One of Zoopla’s other partnerships is with Bricklane, which is offering the first online property ISA on the ‘Invest’ channel.
Landbay, like the rest of the major P2P platforms, is awaiting full authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority so that it can apply for ISA manager status with HMRC. This will mean it can offer the Innovative Finance ISA – the tax-free wrapper around P2P investments that is forecast to propel the industry into the mainstream.
Joy said that Landbay has already been working on the IFISA and that it hopes to receive approval over the coming months. It would be open to offering the ISA on Zoopla if the property website were interested.
