Some £17.9m of that was raised through P2P investors, with just under £12.2m having been repaid, and £5.7m still current.

Over a quarter (29.5%) of the P2P investment figure was from CapitalStackers’ directors and their families.

Almost £60m has been raised through banks, with £25m having been repaid, and £34m still current.

“The CapitalStackers model is based on working in close collaboration with banks,” commented Steve Robson, managing director at CapitalStackers (pictured above).

He explained that the primary reason for this was to ensure that sufficient funding was committed at the outset to enable completion of a development.

“It gives investors and borrowers more certainty that projects will be finished, which should be a fundamental prerequisite of any development,” he said.

•   CrowdProperty nears £100m lending milestone with 'big ambitions' ahead
•   Peer-to-peer lender secures multi-million-pound funding for housing project
•   What Boris Johnson's 'build build build' means for the P2P property lending sector

“Any investor taking part in a deal that is not fully funded at the outset would be entirely dependent on new investors coming on board to pay the contractor, without which the project will fail to complete.”

CapitalStackers — which ‘stacks’ private finance on top of bank funding — can help developers find a willing bank to provide the senior debt for their projects through its network of contacts for a debt advisory fee and, in addition, can crowdfund the mezzanine finance.

This way, the platform aims to fill the gap between the senior debt and the developer’s equity.

Deals are posted in the primary marketplace for a set period and members bid to participate.

At the end of the ‘auction’, CapitalStackers supervises the due diligence by engaging independent valuers, lawyers and monitoring surveyors. 

Only when satisfied with the outcome does it arrange for funds to be released.  

The platform has increasingly seen banks approach them to help get deals off the ground.

“Often a bank is only able to lend no more than 60% of the requirement and works with us to raise the rest — so it’s a true partnership,” added Steve.