‘Gradual homeownership’ fintech Wayhome raises £8m Series A

Wayhome has closed a Series A equity round of £8m to disrupt the home buying space.

A gradual home ownership provider, Wayhome gives customers the option to part-buy and part-rent their homes.

They can start out with just a 5 per cent deposit, pay rent on the part of the home they don’t own and whatever they pay that is over the cost of rent goes towards buying more of the home.

“Due to the way that the Gradual Homeownership model works, the rising interest rates seen since September’s controversial mini-budget have delivered even greater demand for our product,” Wayhome CEO Nigel Purves said.

“With the recent ending of the Help to Buy scheme, there are now hundreds of thousands of would-be homeowners seeking alternative ways to access the property ladder.”

Similar in ways to shared ownership schemes, Wayhome differentiates itself in a few ways: it offers older properties rather than new builds, makes it easy to buy more of the house (from £50) and makes it easier for people to sell and move if they want.

As part of its expansion with the raise, which it says will provide the cash runway to break even, Wayhome plans to create more partnerships with mortgage brokers and lenders over the next few months.

“Homebuying has been somewhat traditional for centuries,” Purves continued. 

“Our alternative is the best of all worlds as a part buy, part rent proposition that allows our customer to buy their ideal home, in their ideal location, today without waiting for years.”

Wayhome currently has an annual rate of £100m deployed in customer property purchases.

According to Purves, the raise will help Wayhome’s ambitions to double this within the next 12 months.

The round was led by existing investors Allianz X, Augment Fintech and new founders Volution, Love Ventures and Cur8 Capital.