"My aim is to ensure that both developers and investors, and the region as a whole, benefits from funding the ambitions of exciting projects in the North West"
Ansar Mahmood
Investment raised through a new Innovative Finance ISA, launched in Manchester and making its first interest payouts to investors last month, is being used to transform the North West’s skyline as it is set to fund four major property developments across the region.
Investments made in the Fluid Bond, held through the Fluid ISA wrapper, are due to give bondholders a quarterly return on investment, and are used to ultimately finance bridging loans. The loans provide short-term lending to property projects across the UK to ensure developers have the necessary capital to progress. Loans financed through the Fluid ISA can be used to fund all stages of the development process, from the initial purchase of land to the design and construction phases.
Funding for the four North West projects is being used to complete site acquisition, for which the proposed developments will be predominantly residential apartments. In total, they will bring almost 1000 new homes to the region.
Two of the developments sit on the northern fringes of Manchester city centre, neighbouring Ancoats Urban Village. Combined, they have an estimated Gross Development Value (GDV) of £67 million, and will create over 500 residential apartments in the area, as well as offering considerable ground floor commercial space.
A third development to the north of the city centre is near one of the main access routes to the city, and just a two-minute drive from Manchester Arena. It will provide approximately 420 residential units as well as ground floor retail space, with an estimated GDV of £83 million.
The fourth site is in Widnes, Cheshire, and forms part of a wider regeneration project to develop unused land into a new community. It has easy motorway access, and is due to feature a waste-to-energy plant to produce on-site electricity. Its estimated GDV is £45 million.
For investors with a Fluid ISA, all investments made are asset-backed by real estate to help reduce investment risk, though this does not guarantee a return of capital and interest for bondholders.The Fluid Bond has a minimum initial investment of £2,000 and offers a fixed return rate of 6% per annum over three years. Early adopters of the Bond have already received their first scheduled interest pay-outs as of January 2019, just months after the ISA launched in September 2018.
Founder of the Fluid Bond, Ansar Mahmood, is a chartered accountant and Manchester-based property expert, with decades of experience in the industry. He said:
“Investment into the Fluid Bond is enabling the development of much-needed residential properties in the North West - one of the fastest growing areas of the UK – whilst also potentially providing bondholders with a steady and reliable source of income.
“In the current climate, high-street and second-tier banks are becoming increasingly reluctant to lend, especially in unregulated markets.My aim is to ensure that both developers and investors, and the region as a whole, benefits from funding the ambitions of exciting projects in the North West.”
Your Capital is at Risk. There is no FSCS cover for bonds and past experience is not a reliable indicator of future results.
