Exclusive: Top property platforms launch trade body to combat misleading investor information
A group of top property investment platforms have launched a trade body today to combat the spread of misleading investment information, ahead of a predicted flood of funding from retail investors into the space.
Seven digital investment platforms from across the UK and Europe have joined forces to back the launch the Association of Real Estate Investment Platforms (AREIP), with the aim of standardising information and ensuring that investors can accurately weigh up opportunities.
Bosses at AREIP said it was an important step as retail investors increasingly gain access to the space.
“Real estate, the world’s largest asset class previously reserved for institutions and wealthy individuals, is being made more accessible by hundreds of investment platforms from across the globe,” a spokesperson said.
“We are on the cusp of enormous growth in this nascent market, and it is the responsibility of all participants to adopt high standards and transparency, which will in turn engender trust and lead to mass market adoption.”
The seven founders, including UK firms Shojin Property Partners and Simple Crowdfunding, said standardisation of investor information was the “foundation upon which a centralised marketplace can be established.”
Standardisation is needed across terminology, investment descriptions/data, risk scoring, and operations, including technology, the firms said.
It comes after real estate investment has surged in recent years and caused a boom in growth for real estate investment platforms.
The average year on year growth of real estate investment platforms between 2016 and 2019 was 63 per cent, according to data from Cambridge University’s Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF).
If the market continues on this trajectory over the next five years aggregate transactions for the period of 2015 and 2027 are due to be worth $309bn.