Property crowdfunding website seeking backers for €2.4m loan

An Irish online peer-to-peer crowdfunding platform that connects investors with experienced developers launched its biggest loan to date on Friday, asking prospective lenders to come up with €2.4 million to build 16 new homes in Limerick.

Property Bridges raises money for small developers requiring finance ranging from €300,000 to €3 million. So far, it has raised funds for three other projects – one in Dublin, one in Waterford and one in Kilkenny.

The company is now raising finance for a 16-property development in Pallaskenry, Co Limerick, which will mainly include three-bedroom properties aimed at the starter home market. It will raise the money in four separate tranches of €665,000 each which require the developer to hit certain milestones before the next set of funds are released. Investors, who will be paid at the end of the loan term, can expect an APR of 8.5 per cent.

Return

Property Bridges was established by David Jelly with an aim to "unlock the property market for investors and provide a major source of non-bank finance to the construction sector". It is based at the NDRC in Dublin, a centre that invests in and supports young digital companies.

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On Property Bridges’s €700,000 project in Waterford, the 139 investors paid an average of €5,053 each, although investors can put up as little as €500. For that project, investors were offered a return of 8.5 per cent which will be paid down along with the principal in September. On its first completed project in Sandycove, which raised €250,000, investors also received a return of 8.5 per cent.

Property Bridges makes its money by charging developers an arrangement fee based on a percentage of the total loan size.