BTL platform GetGround targets £1bn landmark

Buy-to-let (BTL) digital company formation and management platform GetGround has recorded a sixfold year-on-year increase in the number of companies formed on its platform for the first five months of 2021.

GetGround is a graduate of HM Land Registry’s Geovation programme, a government-backed startup accelerator aimed at supporting young businesses in the location data and property sectors.

The platform helps international landlords and property investors to manage their residential property investments in England and Wales.

The Nottingham revamps limited company buy-to-let range

GetGround has secured a 4% market share of monthly volumes since its formal launch in January 2020.

More than 3,500 landlords and property investors in 57 countries have registered companies on the platform, for the purpose of buying UK properties collectively worth in excess of £300m.

The company has reported operating on an annualised run rate of more than 2,000 new companies a year managing property worth more than £500m.

The company expects the accumulative value of properties managed on the platform annually to exceed £1bn within the coming months.

According to GetGround analysis of Companies House and Hamptons data, around 60% of all BTL is now purchased through companies – three times more than in 2016.

In addition, the number of companies formed for the purpose of BTL investing rose by 23% between 2019 and 2020 to 41,700, according to Hamptons data.

By joining GetGround, customers can set up UK limited companies entirely online within 30 minutes, through which they can purchase buy-to-let properties and invest through company structures.

GetGround also provides a current account for rental income and expenses, as well as taking care of the day-to-day management of the companies, from company filings and accounting to tax returns.

The business has also confirmed a Series A funding round; participants include QED Investors (behind Klarna and Wagestream), Mosaic Ventures (backers of Habito), Hambro Perks (investors in PrimaryBid and Tide), and Taavet Hinrikus (founder of Wise).

London-based GetGround has a roster of 500 partners, both in the UK and overseas, and funds raised will be used to expand this network.

Moubin Faizullah Khan, co-founder and CEO at GetGround, said: “The adoption of company structures for investing in BTL has massively accelerated in recent years.

“Yet until we launched GetGround, there was no one platform that supported landlords and investors through everything that company BTL investing involves – from company formation and legal documents, to current accounts, tax returns and accounting.

“The speed at which customers are turning to GetGround shows us that our platform solves that problem.”

Khan added: “Savvy property investors understand the overwhelming benefits of investing through companies over personal ownership.

“Whether it’s tax efficiencies, wide access to mortgage finance options, personal liability protection, or inheritance planning, company BTL makes good business sense.

“It’s good for tenants too, reducing their costs and improving standards.”

He concluded: “Our platform directly addresses the demand from these investors to make company BTL investments as straightforward and efficient as they can be.

“Expensive administration and labyrinthine communication between multiple parties shouldn’t be barriers to property investing.

“We’ve barely scratched the surface of how critical an all-in-one platform like GetGround is to this vast market.”

Yusuf Özdalga, who leads QED Investors in Europe, said: “Adoption of GetGround’s innovative offer is growing fast, but more critically, so too is the market the team is working in.

“No one single business has dominated company BTL, despite how quickly the sector’s expanding, and the services required by customers are still woefully fragmented.

“GetGround is aggregating the value chain in a really exciting way because it makes sense to their customers for whom simplicity and speed are everything.”

Bart Dessaint, partner at Mosaic Ventures, added: “GetGround’s platform is empowering landlords to self-manage the admin of BTL, but also creating a single legal standard across properties, a foundational step to improved financial services.”

George Davies, partner at Hambro Perks, said: “GetGround’s application of technology and efficient company structures to the BTL market is ground-breaking and has delivered rapid growth since our first investment.

“This innovation drives better returns, improved efficiency, and paves the way for new financial innovations for the asset class.”

Kimberley Benson, regional sales manager at Barretts Developments, said: “GetGround is consistently the best option for many of our clients and has been a breath of fresh air in a space where innovation has been lean.

“Their clean, easy interface simplifies, every time, what should be a straightforward process, but very often isn’t.”