LendInvest

LendInvest is a British non-bank mortgage lender which provides a property lending and investing platform.[1][2][3] As an alternative fintech lender in the property market, LendInvest provides finance to property professionals and small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) around the UK.[4][5][6][7] It also makes it possible for individuals, corporates and institutions to invest in secured property loans originated and underwritten by its mortgage team.[8]

LendInvest operates throughout the UK with staff based regionally covering Southern England, Northern England and Scotland.[9] LendInvest is a leading FinTech companies in the UK.[10][11]

LendInvest was launched in 2013 when it was spun out of Montello,[12] a London-based specialist short-term property finance lender. LendInvest is a publicly listed company and is backed by Atomico, the European venture capital investment fund co-founded by Niklas Zennström, which invested £17 million in the company in March 2016.[13][14]

History

Since 2015, LendInvest has published an independently audited Annual Report on its website.[15] In the year to 31 March 2017, LendInvest reported 20% revenue growth to £40 million and an underlying profit from operations of £2.6 million.[16]

In February 2017, LendInvest published a report entitled "Starting small to build more homes: A blueprint for better policymaking in the property SME market",[17] that revealed that SMEs in the housebuilding sector have been failing at alarming rates,[18] and argues that the government could help to resolve the country's chronic housing shortage by rebooting its strategy to help smaller property firms.[19] The report was formally launched on 21 March 2017 by Conor Burns MP.[20]

In June 2017, LendInvest received a third SQ1 Servicer Quality Rating from European ratings agency ARC Ratings.[21] ARC Rating assesses the process used by LendInvest to originate, underwrite and service property loans.[22]

In September 2016, LendInvest launched the LendInvest Property Development Academy,[23] a non-profit two day course for aspiring property entrepreneurs to learn how to better equip themselves with the skills they need to grow their property development portfolios.[24] Academy courses are held in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol and Birmingham.[25] The Academy was launched in collaboration with the University of Reading[26] and is supported by the Home Builders' Federation.[27] The initiative was attended by the Scottish government in June 2017 when Minister for Housing Kevin Stewart MSP launched the Edinburgh course.[28]

In November 2017, LendInvest launched into the UK Buy-to-Let market[29] and in June 2019 became the first Fintech to securitise its own assets in a £259 million securitisation of Buy-to-Let loans.[30]

LendInvest became a public company in July 2021, listing on the London Stock Exchange's AIM.[31]

Products

LendInvest provides short-term financing options, and Buy-to-Let mortgages for UK-based property investors.[32]

On 10 August 2017, LendInvest launched a listed retail bond on the London Stock Exchange.[3] The process to raise LendInvest's first retail bond was closed early and oversubscribed.[33] The retail bond is the first to be issued by a FinTech business and constitutes a fourth funding channel for the company.[33] LendInvest's first retail bond was added by the Daily Telegraph's Questor share tip column to its £500,000 Income Portfolio on 4 August 2017.[34]

References

  1. Stephen Morris. Non-bank lenders push for access to emergency state funding Financial Times, 24 March 2020^
  2. Madeline Ratcliffe. Peer to peer mortgage lender LendInvest hits £500m mark City A.M., 8 January 2016^
  3. LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE WELCOMES LENDINVEST SECURED INCOME PLC lseg.com/^
  4. Lendinvest The FinTech 50, retrieved 2017-11-01^
  5. Finextra. LendInvest makes London Stock Exchange debut with £50m raise Finextra Research, 2017-08-10, retrieved 2017-11-01^
  6. Ryan Weeks. Fintech lender LendInvest to launch retail bond offering Altfi News, 19 July 2017^
  7. Fintech lender LendInvest to launch retail bond offering - AltFi News AltFi, retrieved 2017-11-01^
  8. LendInvest launches first retail bond for secured property loans Wealth Adviser, 26 July 2017^
  9. LendInvest hires Andy Virgo as first BDM for Southern England Business Money, 15 August 2017^
  10. Edwin Smith. 25 fintech companies set for stardom Raconteur, 8 February 2015^
  11. Oscar Williams-Grut. 17 fintech businesses that could one day be worth over $1 billion Business Insider UK, 20 April 2017^
  12. Kate Allen. Is peer-to-peer a new home for UK property finance? Financial Times, 22 September 2014^
  13. Companies house Companies house^
  14. Kate Palmer. Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström buys £17m stake in peer-to-peer lender Telegraph, 14 March 2016^
  15. Samantha Hurst. P2P Lending Platform LendInvest Publishes Annual Report Crowdfund Insider, 18 January 2016^
  16. Billy Bambrough. Alternative mortgage lender LendInvest posts a 133 per cent rise in revenue as profit flattens out City A.M., 7 October 2016^
  17. LendInvest publishes a blueprint for change to government treatment of property SMEs Housebuilder & Developer, 6 March 2017^
  18. Matthew Rothstein. Turning Around Housebuilding SMEs Might Be The Key To Recovery In The Sector Forbes, 7 March 2017^
  19. Christian Faes. Entrepreneur housebuilders have been crushed: We must bring them back to life City A.M., 7 March 2017^
  20. Conor discusses housebuilding Conor Burns, 19 April 2017^
  21. LendInvest receives highest rating from European ratings agency Mortgage Introducer, 2017-06-29, retrieved 2017-11-13^
  22. LendInvest receives highest rating from European ratings agency for third consecutive year Bridging Loan Directory, 2017-06-29, retrieved 2017-11-13^
  23. Rod Lockhart. We must reverse decline of smaller housebuilders Property Week, 6 June 2017^
  24. What attendees thought of the LendInvest Property Development Academy Mortgage Strategy, 22 December 2016^
  25. Marc Shoffman. LendInvest launches Scottish Property Development Academy Peer2Peer Finance News, 23 June 2017^
  26. Alex Lynn. LendInvest's property development academy expands to the North Development Finance Today, 30 March 2017^
  27. Robyn Hall. Home Builders Federation backs LendInvest academy Specialist Finance Introducer, 20 January 2017^
  28. Gareth Mackie. LendInvest launches academy for budding property tycoons The Scotsman, 23 June 2017^
  29. Financial Reporter. LendInvest launches into buy-to-let market Financial Reporter, retrieved 2021-10-21^
  30. LendInvest completes first £259m securitisation as it looks to further take market share from big banks AltFi, retrieved 2021-10-21^
  31. Stock www.londonstockexchange.com, retrieved 2021-10-21^
  32. Intermediaries www.lendinvest.com, retrieved 2021-10-21^
  33. LendInvest makes London Stock Exchange debut with £50m raise Finextra, 10 August 2017^
  34. Richard Dyson. Questor: With a 5.25pc coupon and a five-year term, this new bond issue is worth a look The Telegraph, 28 July 2017^