79. Bricklane.com

Founders: Simon Heawood and Tom Cavill
Founded: November 2015
Website: www.bricklane.com

Born out of the frustration of trying to save for a first home, Simon Heawood and Tom Cavill started Bricklane.com to help first home savers get a foot on the ladder and reach a first home “years quicker than by saving with cash”.

Claiming to offer the first online Property ISA, Bricklane.com allows anyone to participate in the property market for as little as £100, by investing in a fund of expertly chosen homes tax free.

Users can then see their investment increase alongside the property value and earn rental income, and exit by selling their shares to other investors. The platform simply charges 2% of the money its customers invest and an annual 0.85% annual fee on their total holdings (charged monthly).

The platform currently features a range of homes across Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham, spreading users’ investment across a number of properties to decrease risk. It targets one to three bedroom homes in the £125,000 to £350,000 price range, with strong rental demand, opportunity for price growth and, crucially, character.

Bricklane.com has some exciting developments in the pipeline for the next year: it expects to launch in London over the coming months and wants to enable its customers to use Bricklane.com in conjunction with the government’s Lifetime ISA scheme.

“In it for the long haul”, Heawood and Cavill are on a mission to help as many people as possible achieve their aspirations of owning a home.