The Salford-based asset manager behind a £1bn Chinese investment in UK factories and warehouses has now launched a £500m buy-to-let platform.
The new ventures comes as Manchester establishes itself as the UK’s main centre for selling residential property investment as a retail product.
Platforms include TheHouseCrowd, PropertyCrowd and Lendinvest. Manchester has also seen the first steps towards commercial property crowdfunding through Manchester-based Transcendent Real Estate.
McCafferty Asset Management and the Pervaiz Naviede Family Trust, both based in Salford, have joined forces to launch Prospi, a new shared property investment platform aimed at private investors.
The move is a challenge to the growing number of Manchester-based property crowdfunders, who have a slightly different business model.
The McCafferty arrangement differs from crowdfunding, which tends to invite investment before the individual properties have either been identified or tenanted.
Prospi allows investors to risk sums as small as £500 in the buy-to-let properties managed by McCafferty. Investors will benefit from predictable levels of income, plus any capital growth realised when the individual property assets are eventually sold, typically after a period of five years.
It is estimated that total returns – rental income plus capital growth – will average 15.6% over the five year term after all fees and charges.
Last month Shanghai-based PGC Capital and Salford-based McCafferty Asset Management Group, signed a strategic partnership agreement to jointly launch a UK logistics investment scheme.
McAfferty chief executive Charles Whittle, said: “Many private investors either don’t have the money or the expertise to invest in residential property. Those who do have the time, knowledge and necessary capital to enter the ‘Buy-to-Let’ market still face the legal responsibilities of being a private landlord. PROSPI offers access to the sector, but without all the hassle.
“The new model has been designed specifically to avoid the risks associated with gearing and property development, filling a gap in the market by offering more reliable returns in these uncertain times. The anticipated investment returns of PROSPI are based upon actual achieved rental figures and a sound understanding of local markets.
“We do not believe that making over-optimistic promises about performance is in the best long term interests of either private investors or the sector as a whole.”