Proptech Generation Home raises £1bn in debt financing

A mortgage lender disruptor set up by a husband and wife team has raised £1bn in debt financing.

Proptech Generation Home, whose backers including billionaire VC Peter Thiel and Monzo co-founder Tom Blomfield, was set up in 2019 by Will Rice and his wife Sophia Guy-White.

Waterfall Asset Management has provided the debt financing, which will be partially financed by Barclays.

The funds will be used to lend to more first time buyers, according to a statement given to Bloomberg.

“Capital accumulation is the greatest challenge faced by young people, who struggle to get onto the property ladder while saving for their own retirement,” Rice said in the statement.

“The additional funding provided by Waterfall is a vote of confidence in an industry starved of innovation, and will directly help thousands more aspiring homeowners realise their dream.”

Generation Home offers Income Booster and Deposit Booster mortgages, aiding first-time buyers to finance their dream moves.

The Income Booster mortgage allows a third party, often parents, to be listed on the mortgage, helping the first-time buyer borrow more money.

The Deposit Booster mortgage allows a friend or family member to provide first-time buyers with an interest-free loan to help fund the deposit in return for a stake in the property.

The lender is already lending tens of millions of pounds every month to first-time buyers.

The new model of mortgage lender was born out of the couple’s own home buying frustrations.

The latest funding round follows a $30.4m Series A funding round last year, which followed the firm securing a £300m debt facility from NatWest.