The House Crowd has hit its £50m investment milestone after a record start to the year, having raised more than £15m in less than six months.

The property crowdfunding platform, based in Hale, Greater Manchester, raised £600,000 in five hours on its St Thomas Road loan project, which offered investors 8% yield over a fixed six month period at 63.2% loan-to-value.

Founded five years ago, The House Crowd has grown at over 100% per year in each of the last two years, providing a range of investments secured against property to suit different investor risk profiles and objectives.

The business’ achievements include paying out more than £10m in returns to investors, opening a new London office at Level 39, Canary Wharf, successfully funding 307 property investments, growing its website members to 15,000, and increasing staff numbers from an original team of three to 24.

Frazer Fearnhead, CEO of The House Crowd, said: “Today investors are facing uncertainty on an unprecedented scale. Traditional buy-to-let is now unviable for most individuals, interest rates are woefully low and look to stay low for considerable time. Also, the stock market is a gamble few can afford to take.

“No wonder people are turning to property crowdfunding to take control of their own finances, spreading their risk across a diverse range of investment products. This includes property-backed peer-to-peer loans that can provide fixed returns of 8-12% in under 12 months.

“I have no doubt the confidence we’re seeing from investors in our service will continue to grow, as alternative finance takes the place of less attractive, traditional investment options.”