Your capital is at risk and dependant on the value of the property. It is not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and if property prices fall, you may get back less than what you invest. If there is a delay in the sale of the property, investments may not be repaid on time.
Please read Key Risks before investing.
OnStep Homes is a new way for 'generation rent' to get onto the housing ladder. You, together with the tenant, provide a shared equity loan to a company to purchase a family home.
The tenant pays monthly rent to the company. You receive monthly interest and share the capital growth with the tenant.
Similar legal form to the 'Help to Buy' loan. They have been a feature of the mortgage market for several years and were primarily offered by house builders.
The equity loan to the purchasing company, is secured by a second charge on the property and ranks after the first charge mortgage, just like the 'Help to Buy' loan.
The tenant has a fixed seven-year rental agreement (AST), is a co-investor in the property and is responsible for all repairs and maintenance. There are no extra costs or fees.
Your loan is for a seven year term and is repayable at the end of it either through refinancing or sale. You can also exit early in the secondary market.
You have full control to individually select the properties to invest in and the amount that you invest.
Both the first charge for the main mortgage and the second charge for the equity mortgage are registered with the land registry in the name of Open Access Finance Ltd (trading as OnStep), which acts as the security trustee on the loan.
The security trustee holds the mortgage security in trust for all investors on the OnStep platform. The security trustee has no economic interest in the loan and does not have any conflict of interest with lenders in relation to the security.
A separate company, set-up specifically for this purpose, owns the property and administers the tenancy. The company has no other business and owns no other properties. The tenant remains responsible for all maintenance and repair duties, in lieu of which they receive a discounted rent.
If the tenant is in financial difficulty, we will treat them sympathetically and explore appropriate forbearance options. This will include allowing them to sell their investment in the property to generate funds.
If forbearance options are exhausted, we will work with the tenant to facilitate a sale of the property or find a new tenant in accordance with the interests of the lenders.
The contractual term for the mortgages will be for 7 years. Your loan will be repaid either through a sale of the property or through refinancing with the tenant agreeing a new 7 year rental contract.
There will also be a sophisticated secondary market in operation, which will allow you to exit your loans early.