Investors take a punt on land investment in Gloucestershire

More than 100 investors with a diverse and experienced investment history have collectively invested in the region of £1m in a strategic land investment being managed by Intro Crowd.

The funds raised in Intro Crowd’s crowdfunding platform will enable the firm to guide the site acquired at Cam, near Dursley in Gloucestershire, through the planning permission process with the aim of selling the land on to a housebuilder at a profit.

Intro Crowd, which launched a year ago, offers the opportunity for investors to buy shares in companies owning plots of land for as little as £1,500.

Gregory Baker, Intro Crowd’s chief executive, said: “There is clearly an appetite for this kind of investment, as we are delighted to have raised our target amount for Cam. Our investors have experience in all sorts of investment vehicles, and the addition of the land at Cam forms part of a diverse portfolio for the majority of our investors.

“This is a new and innovative way for multiple investors to engage with a new and much needed opportunity for land development, and we see this access to strategic land as potentially helping to ease some of the pressures of the UK’s chronic housing shortage.”

Intro Crowd utilise their specialist knowledge to seek out sites adjacent to towns experiencing a high growth in population. These offer the best potential for returns, through the granting of planning permission and subsequent sale.

“It is a great opportunity,” said Martin Crocombe, an experienced investor and previous employee of both the Bank of England and Thomson Reuters. “My ethos is to take small chunks of each investment so over time I’d see it like an ISA type strategy, in five to ten years you have a little bit of a lot of different things.”