Don't invest unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more.

Don't invest unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more.

FAQs

CapitalRise Property Investment & Crowdfunding FAQ

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About us

Real Estate Crowdfunding is the term used to describe the process of multiple investors coming together to fund a property investment. How investors receive their return varies by product and provider. However, they most commonly receive monthly rental payments, interest payments or receive their return through capital gains made when the project is complete and the property or business is sold.

CapitalRise is an online crowdfunding platform allowing eligible investors to purchase property-backed bonds to fund loans secured against prime real estate.

To get started investors must:

  • Apply to become eligible to invest
  • Select an investment that has been selected by our experienced team
  • Complete your own due diligence on the investment
  • Transfer your funds and start accruing investment returns

CapitalRise is designed to make investing in loans secured against prime property as simple as possible.

The key individuals behind CapitalRise have professional backgrounds in property development, property investment, technology, law and finance. The company was founded by two Directors of Finchatton - a specialist property development company with over £1bn of property investment experience - and Uma Rajah, a financial technology specialist.

We believe one of the key differences between CapitalRise and the other platforms in this sector is the depth of property development and investment experience within the team (over 75 years of collective expertise.)

Another key difference is the fact that the founders invest their own money into every single project on the platform to demonstrate that they fundamentally believe in the quality of our underwriting processes.

Another important point of difference is that investors are not charged fees for using the service.

CapitalRise Finance Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, registration number 816789. CapitalRise® is a registered trademark of CapitalRise Finance Ltd, a limited company registered in England and Wales (No. 09571824) with its registered office at 7-9 Swallow St, London W1B 4DE.

The founding team at CapitalRise have well over 75 years of combined property development and investment experience and well over £1bn of global real estate experience.

CapitalRise charges developers to raise funds through the platform. As experienced developers themselves, the co-founders have striven to ensure that the service is competitively priced for developers and cheaper than their traditional alternatives. Investors do not pay any fees.

Applications to invest or join are handled by CapitalRise Finance Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, registration number 816789. CapitalRise® is a registered trademark of CapitalRise Finance Ltd, a limited company registered in England and Wales (No. 09571824) with its registered office at 7-9 Swallow St, London W1B 4DE.

Applications to open a CapitalRise IFISA are handled by Goji Financial Services Limited, which also provides custody and clearing services and holds cash balances in investor’s CapitalRise standard and IFISA accounts. Goji Financial Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 805323.

References to CapitalRise throughout the website include references to services provided to you directly by our Partner Firms. The arrangements we have entered into with our Partner Firms do not amount to a partnership in law and you will contract directly with the Partner Firms in respect of the services that they provide to you.

For investors

Prime property-backed opportunities were traditionally only available to insititutions, large funds and wealthy investors with millions to invest.

CapitalRise was founded on the belief that investment opportunities should be available to all eligible investors and offer them the opportunity to invest in loans secured against prime property.

At CapitalRise the investment process is straightforward and provides complete transparency on all aspects of your investment with regular updates to keep you informed of progress.

As with all investments your capital is at risk.

Yes you can. When you sign up select the option applying on behalf of ‘My Company’.

CapitalRise does not recommend investments or provide investment advice.

CapitalRise will offer investors direct access to a variety of property types including residential, commercial, industrial, retail, and hospitality.

CapitalRise carries out a stringent underwriting and due diligence process that is designed to ensure only those investments we believe are of the highest quality make it onto the platform.

CapitalRise provides investors with all the relevant information relating to a property investment including: location, property details, comparative sales/letting data, developer history and financial appraisal.

We expect each investor to carry out their own research before making an investment and encourage them to seek independent professional advice.

When investing with CapitalRise investors are investing in loans that are secured against prime real estate.

CapitalRise will only accept investors who have a UK bank account. Our investors are primarily UK residents although certain non-UK residents may be eligible (but they will be subject to additional checks and it will depend on the specific jurisdiction) and companies. At present we can accept three categories of investor, Self-certified sophisticated investors, High net worth investors and Professional investors as defined by the FCA.

Self-certified sophisticated investors – applies to individuals who have invested in an unlisted company in the last year or have worked as a corporate investor in the last 2 years.

High net worth investors – this applies to investors who in the previous 12 months either had an income of over £100,000 or held net assets of over £250,000 in value.

Corporate investors – this applies to individuals who are authorised to complete an application on behalf of a corporate investor whose main activity is to invest in shares, bonds or other financial instruments.

The exact definitions of each category are explained in detail in the online application form.

You can get started as an investor on CapitalRise by signing up on the site – it is free to join and all you will need to do is complete a short application form online. We will then complete some verification checks on the information you supply. If your application is successful you can access our investment opportunities after a 24 hour cooling off period.

The minimum investment amount is £1,000.

Investors sign up on the site by completing a short online application form. Once you have been accepted as a member you can select which investment you would like to participate in and the amount you would like to invest. You sign the legal documents online, send us the funds and start earning investment returns. It is that simple.

You can chose between 2 main types of investment product on CapitalRise: debt and equity.

Debt products are loans made to developers and typically pay a fixed annual rate of interest/return and are secured by a legal charge on the property asset and/or a personal guarantee from the developer. As these investments have security and must be repaid before any money is returned to the developer they are typically considered to be less risky than equity products. Commensurate with this perceived lower level of risk is a lower rate of return.

Equity products are funds given to developers which typically have no fixed rate of return and often rank as the last funds to be repaid on the exit of the investment. This is not always the case, and there will be some equity products where the equity investors will be paid before the developer. However, equity investors would nearly always be repaid after any bank debt and debt investors, which combined with the fact that they have no fixed rate of return is why they are perceived to be more risky than debt products. This is why they typically receive a higher rate of return compared to debt products.

For each property investment a new company will be set up. These companies are known as special purpose vehicles (SPV) and are used to protect the interests of the investors as the SPV will not be allowed to conduct any other commercial activity, its sole purpose is to serve the interests of its investors.

For debt products the investors will invest their money into an SPV which will issue bonds to investors and then lend these funds to the developer. It will also play a role in the structuring of the security that the investors may have access to, such as a legal charge on the property. The developer would receive the investors’ capital and repay it with interest at the agreed rate. At the end of the investment, typically the property would be sold and investors’ capital would be repaid along with any interest due and the investment would then end.

Equity products are structured in a very similar manner except that instead of bonds, the investors buy shares in the SPV. The return for equity investors will be governed by the increase in value of the shares that they hold, which is a function of the success, and hence value, of the underlying property project. The business plan and financial model for these investments will contain forecasts that will be used to estimate the return that these investors might receive. Typically, these investors do not have the benefit of security in the form of a legal charge. When the property is sold and the investment ends these equity investors will receive their capital repayment and their share of the profits. If the investment performed better than originally planned the investor may receive a return that was greater than forecast, but equally if it performed worse than planned they would receive a lower return than forecast. The risk associated with losing their original capital would be greater for these investors than for the debt investors. The higher potential risk drives higher potential returns. Please refer to our risk page.

CapitalRise charges an interest margin of up to 2% per annum and an exit fee of 1% of the loan amount. These fees are charges to borrower and CapitalRise does not charge fees to it's members.

All investment opportunities are funded on a first-come, first-served basis. Once the investment goal is reached, the offering is closed.

Investing in real estate (like stocks and shares) is risky and returns are not guaranteed. The real estate market has economic cycles and it is exposed to wider macro-economic factors.

Other general risks of real estate investments are:

Political
Geographical
Financing and illiquidity
Environmental

For further information please read the risks page and the risk section within each investment opportunity you are considering.

The terms for each CapitalRise investment will be different. For example the estimated duration of the investment, the estimated return and the nature of any security offered may vary from one investment to the next. This is just some of the information that will be explained to potential investors in the ‘Investment Opportunity’ page and in the associated investment documents. It is very important therefore that investors take the time to fully understand the information provided before deciding to invest.

No. Investing in our real estate is not risk-free and your capital is therefore not guaranteed. CapitalRise does what it can to mitigate the level of risk to our investors but returns are not guaranteed.

You cannot claim compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if your investment does not perform as expected, unless it results from us not discharging our obligations to you, for example, through mis-selling or maladministration of your money and investments. The FSCS covers amounts we owe our customers in the event of our insolvency, up to a maximum of £85,000 per customer. Further information is available from the FSCS at www.fscs.org.uk

Once you are an approved member you will be issued your individual cash account details that you can view within your My Account. Your CapitalRise account will be held by and administered by a Custodian as a client account. At present, the Custodian is Goji Financial Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 805323. These funds are segregated from the financial operations of CapitalRise to protect investors. This means that if CapitalRise were to stop operating neither CapitalRise nor any of its creditors could touch these investors’ funds.

Some financial services products have a 14 day cancellation period. However these investments do not.

Once your investment is live, if you change your mind and want to exit from the investment then we do operate a Bulletin Board where you can post your investment for sale at its current value. If another CapitalRise member chooses to purchase your investment at its current value you will receive an email and will be asked to accept the sale. Although we will also try find a buyer this does not guarantee a sale. You will be charged a fee of 1.5% of the sale amount if a buyer is found.

All investments go through a rigorous 50 point assessment from our highly experienced team of property professionals. Only the very best opportunities are selected for inclusion on the platform. For a detailed understanding of how we select and underwrite the projects listed on the site please see our section on How we select investments.

Returns will be paid directly into your dedicated CapitalRise Cash Account where you can subsequently withdraw funds from back to your nominated bank account. For both debt and equity products investors will receive a payment at the end of the investment term which is equal to the capital they invested at the start. However, the returns are paid differently for debt and equity products. For debt products the returns take the form of interest payments and the frequency at which investors will receive these payments will vary by deal and be explained up front. In most cases they will either be paid quarterly or as a single payment at the end of the investment.

For equity products the return will only be payable at the end of the investment term.

Projected returns and the timing of these payments are specific to each investment opportunity and will be clearly stated in the ‘Investment Opportunity’ page so please review these carefully before making an investment.

Returns are estimated forecasts only and are not guaranteed.

Once you are an approved member you will be issued your individual cash account details that you can view within your My Account. Your CapitalRise account will be held by and administered by a Custodian as a client account. At present, the Custodian is Goji Financial Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 805323. When the developer needs to make payments to investors they will send funds to Goji Financial Services and from here we will distribute these funds to the relevant investors. These funds are segregated from the financial operations of CapitalRise to protect investors. This means that if CapitalRise were to stop operating neither CapitalRise nor any of its creditors could touch these investors’ funds.

The investment period is specific to each investment opportunity. Please read the ‘Investment Opportunity’ page for confirmation of the forecast investment period.

You can see how your investments are performing in your ‘My account’ section which you can access by logging in to your account and clicking ‘My account’ in the header.

For example you will be able to see the amount you invested, the amount you have earned so far and the amounts you are forecast to receive. You will be able to view this information on each individual investment that you hold as well as across all your investments as a whole CapitalRise will also provide quarterly reports via both the investor dashboard and by email on all investments.

No. However, this may be a feature which we add on in the future.

Investments on CapitalRise are private and are for a fixed period so we cannot guarantee you can exit before the end of the term. CapitalRise does however operate a Bulletin Board where you can post your investment for sale at its current value. Although we will also try find a buyer this does not guarantee a sale. If another CapitalRise member chooses to purchase your investment at its current value you will receive an email and will be asked to accept the sale.

There will be an administration fee for selling your investment before the end of the term of 1.5% of the current value of the investment amount. For example if you sell your investment at its current value is £2,000 you would be charged 1.5% of £2,000 = £30.

Please note, real estate investments are illiquid and it may not be possible to sell on your investment before the end of the term.

You can post an investment on the Bulletin Board at any point up until one month before the estimated end date. If a loan your investment is within is late in repaying or is in default you will not be able to post your investment for sale.

Each investment on CapitalRise has its own specific estimated holding period which will be explained in its ‘Investment Opportunity’ page.

Yes, investors will continue to receive or accrue returns until the date at which the investor is repaid in full.

Each investment is different and you should read your investment documents to understand your position with regard to voting rights on any given investment.

Your investment is legally ring fenced from CapitalRise’s operations so that in the event that CapitalRise were to go out of business, you will still hold the legal right to the interest or profit derived from your investment and the developer would still be obliged to make those payments to you.

If the developer goes out of business, the underlying loan made to it by the bond issuer will be in default. CapitalRise, acting as Security Trustee on behalf of the bond issuer, will then have a number of options open to it in order to recover the amount owed and in turn the amount the bond issuer owes to you. With regard to development finance loans, these options include exercising CapitalRise’s rights to take assignment of the building contract and ensure the development is completed to enforce the security CapitalRise has been granted over the property by way of legal charge. This security is typically held on trust for you and the other investors in that project. CapitalRise will act in the best interests of investors taking into account the specific circumstances. Taking any recovery action is time-consuming and will incur additional costs. In addition the value of the property at the point that the developer defaults may be lower than the amount invested and amounts due to investors may not be paid back in time or in full.

You will be able to access copies of all your investment documents by clicking on the ‘Documents’ link in the header bar within your ‘My Account’ section which you can access by logging in and then clicking on the link in the header.

CapitalRise investors should seek their own tax advice specific to their personal circumstances and jurisdiction. CapitalRise does not provide tax advice and encourages investors to seek advice from an accountant and/or tax adviser. For some products CapitalRise may be obliged to withhold tax from payments made to investors.

Yes. Independent accountants will check the books and records of all CapitalRise investment vehicles to ensure that records have been accurately kept.

You can invest up to £20,000 in an IFISA in the current tax year of 2023-24 ending on the 5th April 2024.

Unfortunately we're still not in a position to accept funds from a SIPP, SSAS or company pension scheme. As soon as we can, we will send out notifications via email.

The accounts will be denominated in £ Pounds Sterling. All investments must be made from a UK bank account in £ Pounds Sterling.

A deep discount bond (also zero coupon bond where no interest is paid or discount bond) is a bond bought at a price lower than its face value, with the face value repaid at the time of maturity.

We offer 2 types of debt products - interest bearing bonds and deep discount bonds. The difference between the 2 bond types is how the return on the investment is classified which affects whether or not we need to withhold tax when making repayments.

On interest bearing bonds the return is classified as interest which means that we are obliged to withhold tax . We must deduct 20% of the interest payment and pay this directly to HMRC on behalf of the investor.

On deep discount bonds the return is classified as principal because the bond was bought at a lower price than its face value; this means that we do not have to withhold tax when making repayments.

ISA

What is a CapitalRise ISA

The Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) is an ISA that allows customers to earn tax free returns on investments they make. There are three types of ISAs available in the market, the Cash ISA, the Stocks and Shares ISA and the Innovative Finance ISA. You can use the IFISA to invest in CapitalRise opportunities and earn tax free returns.

Any investment into an ISA with us will function in the same way as any non-ISA investment does now, the only difference is your returns will be tax free. For example;

  1. If you have invested in a development opportunity your investment will be used to assist property developers complete their projects with your investment returned once the property has sold or the developer has refinanced.
  2. If you have invested in a bridging opportunity your investment will be used to assist the developer with acquisition of the property and your investment will be returned once the developer has refinanced or from sale of the property.
  3. If you have invested in a sales period opportunity your investment will be used to refinance the developers existing development loan and your investment will be returned once the property has sold.

The rate of return you receive will vary depending on the deals you choose to invest in.

Opening a CapitalRise ISA account

Once you are a member click here and provide your National Insurance number. There are two ways to fund your account when there is a live investment opportunity by using this year’s allowance or transferring existing ISAs. Even when there is no live opportunity, you can still open a CapitalRise ISA and receive priority access to all upcoming investment opportunities and be able to fund your ISA faster.

You can subscribe to one ISA from each of the ISA categories. The categories are cash, stocks & shares and innovative finance. You can have one of each ISA as long as the total amount subscribed does not exceed the annual subscription limit of £20,000. There is no limit on how many ISAs you can transfer over from previous tax years.

No, it is free to open an IFISA with us.

There is a fee of £35 for transferring out to another provider. In the event of bankruptcy or death of an investor there are additional fees which are detailed in the ISA terms and conditions. These fees are to cover the administration costs associated with these events.

Only members can open a IFISA account. Once you are a member you will need your National Insurance number.

Customers need to be 18 years old and a UK resident to open an IFISA.

You can open ISAs with multiple providers however you can only deposit money into one IFISA provider in the tax year.

Funding a CapitalRise ISA

You can invest up to £20,000 into your ISA in the current tax year. There is no limit to how much you can invest if you are transferring an existing ISA from another provider.

You can fund your IFISA using your dedicated CapitalRise Cash Account. These details can be found by clicking 'Deposit Funds' on your My Account dashboard. Simply add 'ISA' to the beginning of your payment reference.

The minimum investment is £1000.

No, we will do this on your behalf. Don't forget there is no tax payable on any earnings you generate from your IFISA.

Once you have opened an CapitalRise ISA account we will make sure that you get to review our upcoming investment opportunities before our public launch so you do not miss out!

You can fund your IFISA using your dedicated CapitalRise Cash Account. These details can be found by clicking 'Deposit Funds' on your My Account dashboard. Simply add 'ISA' to the beginning of your payment reference.

No, you have to be at least 18 years old to invest on our platform as such you cannot invest using a Junior ISA

Transferring an existing ISA

Yes, members can transfer in ISAs. When you log in you'll see the option to 'Transfer In'. Alternatively, once you have invested in a CapitalRise opportunity you will be asked a couple of questions about your existing ISA account and contact details of your existing ISA provider, the process generally only takes a couple of minutes. A form is pre-populated which you then sign and send, we then take care of the rest and in most cases your investment will be live within 15-20 working days.

Once we have received your signed form via the post your CapitalRise ISA will be live within 15-20 working days.

Yes, we can accept partial transfers. Please note some ISA providers may have not allow you to transfer some of your existing ISA, if you are unsure just ask your ISA provider, or alternatively get in contact with us and we can try to find out on your behalf.

No, you will not lose your investment allocation. We understand that ISA transfers will take some time so we will hold your allocation until it has been funded from the transfer. We will continue to keep you updated throughout the entire process.

Managing my CapitalRise ISA

You can't withdraw funds that are currently invested in an opportunity but you can as soon as the investment comes to an end.

At the end of an investment opportunity you can:

  1. Reinvest your funds into another CapitalRise Investment Opportunity.
  2. If you invested in the same tax year you can invest your funds into another ISA as the CapitalRise ISA is flexible
  3. If you invested in another tax year you can transfer your ISA

All of these options will ensure that your funds do not lose their tax free status.

Yes, the CapitalRise ISA is Flexible, you can withdraw and reinvest within the same tax year and your funds will not lose their tax free status.

For borrowers

You should use CapitalRise to raise finance because it offers:

  1. Lower financing costs – CapitalRise will be able to raise you funding at a lower cost than the traditional funding sources.
  2. Lower fees – CapitalRise charges lower fees for raising you money than traditional fundraising.
  3. Access to a large and diverse investor base – instead of relying on a small number of investors to fund your schemes, CapitalRise gives you access to our large and diverse investor base which means you raise the capital you need more quickly and easily.
  4. Convenience - We take all of the pain and hassle away from the fundraising process. No need for lots of fundraising presentations – come to us and we will do the rest.

CapitalRise raises debt and equity for a variety of property types, including residential, commercial, industrial, self-storage, retail and hospitality. Projects must have a compelling business plan and be in good locations with strong demonstrable demand.

Property developers, based in the UK with UK bank accounts who meet our selection criteria.

CapitalRise focuses on small to mid-sized debt and equity funding requirements ranging from £0.5 million to £20 million.

Terms vary considerably and are dependent on whether the funding you need is debt or equity. Terms range from 6 months to 7 years. Send us details of your project for more information about your specific requirements.

It is simple. Please fill in the initial information requirement form here. Once you have done this, one of our friendly business development managers will be in touch to discuss the project in more detail.

To be listed on the platform you will eventually need to provide:

  • A comprehensive business plan for the project.
  • Detailed development appraisal / investment cash flow
  • A good track record of delivering projects of a similar nature

Yes, CapitalRise runs full background, criminal and credit checks as part of our due diligence process.

CapitalRise requires developers to provide a detailed quarterly report which would include updates on:

  • Progress of the project in general
  • Financial performance, cash flows and costs
  • Forecast completion dates when investor capital will be repaid
  • Forecast returns to investors

CapitalRise has 2 broad product types – debt and equity - and the costs of raising each and the fees payable are as follows:

Debt:

Funding costs:
The interest rate will be dependent on the overall loan to value ratio, loan to cost ratio, security being provided, property type and location, riskiness of the business plan and background of the borrower. The range would be approximately 7% for senior debt to 13% for mezzanine/riskier loans.

Fees:
There is a small arrangement and/or exit fee payable depending on the loan being requested as well as an annual management fee.

Other costs:
1) Formal property valuation report by a valuer appointed by CapitalRise. This cost is in the region of 0.2% of the value of the property.
2) Legal fees of entering into the loan agreement. This cost is approximately 0.1% of the value of the loan amount.

Equity:

Funding costs:
The annual rates of return required by equity investors will depend on the amount of leverage on the property, the amount of equity being provided by the sponsor/developer, property type and location, riskiness of the business plan and background of the sponsor/developer. The range would be 12% for preferred equity to 18% for joint venture equity.

Fees:
There is a small arrangement fee payable on the successful completion of funding as well as an annual management fee.

Other costs:
1) Formal property valuation report by a valuer appointed by CapitalRise. This cost is in the region of 0.2% of the value of the property.
2) Legal fees of entering into the loan agreement. This cost is approximately 0.1% of the value of the loan amount.

Yes. If the project overruns past the end of the agreed term you must continue to pay the rate of interest on debt products or the rate of return agreed on equity products. There may also be extension charges depending on the structure of the product agreed with you.

No, all communication with investors is done via CapitalRise. We manage all the investor relationships on your behalf so you can focus on delivering your project.

Manage my account

CapitalRise takes great care to ensure the security of all of our members’ and our own data. Our website uses advanced security technology for establishing an encrypted link between our web server and your browser. This link ensures that all data passed between our website and your device are encrypted and private.

Yes, you can find copies in your ‘Documents’ section within ‘My Accounts’ which you can access by logging in and clicking ‘My Account’ in the header.

Yes you can find a list of your current and historic investments in your ‘My Investments’ section within the ‘My Account’ area of the website.

To hear about the latest opportunities from CapitalRise please ensure that your marketing preferences allow for us to contact you. You can change them within your ‘Notifications’ page, which is in the ‘Profile’ section of your ‘My Account’ page. You can access it by logging in and clicking on ‘My Account’ in the header. We will email notifications about upcoming projects to all our members well in advance of the opportunity going live.

Please login go to your ‘My Account’ section by clicking on the ‘My Account’ link in the header select ‘Profile’ from the top menu and ‘Notifications’ from the left hand menu. From here you can change you communications preferences.

We take complaints very seriously. Please call us on 0203 869 2620 or e-mail us at customercare@capitalrise.com

You also have the right to complain to The Financial Ombudsman Service (“FOS”). The FOS, is a free service to consumers for the impartial resolution of complaints. You may contact the FOS at any stage of your complaint for free and impartial advice but you must have allowed us the opportunity to resolve the complaint within the CapitalRise Internal Complaints Procedure before the FOS will review your complaint.

You can contact the FOS at:
complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk,0800 0234567,or

The Financial Ombudsman Service,
South Quay Plaza,
183 Marsh Wall,
London
E14 9SR.

If you can't find the answer to your question here please contact us and we would be happy to help.