Invest in Lapwing

An opportunity to invest in creating affordable local housing

Offer opens 31 July 2023 and closes 3 September 2023.

Lapwing Housing Co-operative is a community-led project designed to bring new affordable housing to the Lancaster District. We are beginning the process of buying a property in Halton which will be owned by Lapwing – not an individual – and will be run on a not-for-profit basis.

Lapwing’s approach seeks to offer affordable, secure and sustainable housing; enabling people with no capital to become tenants/members. This is an essential element of the co-operative’s vision and is made possible by social investment from those among us who are in a position to offer a loan to the project. Some founder members are also in a position to offer loans alongside members of the wider community – you – who want to see this happen.

Lapwing is registered as a housing co-operative with the Financial Conduct Authority.

Could you be a Lapwing investor?

To buy Lapwing’s property we need a mix of grants, long-term loans, loan stock and a mortgage. In order to keep the project as affordable as possible to members/tenants we need to keep the costs of borrowing as low as possible.

So far we have a substantial grant offer and some founder members have put forward significant offers of loans and loan stock. We also have an in-principle mortgage offer from the Ecology Building Society.

As the interest rates on the mortgage are high, we are seeking to raise as much as possible (between £75,000 - £250,000) through social investments (long term loans and loan stock) and donations. This is where we hope you will come into the picture.

Social investment

The basic idea of social investment is that you offer to invest a sum of money for a set period of years – you choose – as loan stock. The interest rate is between 0% and 2% – you choose. As a social investment you are investing in the creation of new and affordable community housing opportunities for the local area. This is vastly different to investing purely for financial gain.

The loans, loan stock and mortgage are repaid through rents paid by Lapwing tenants (who are also members).

We have a robust business plan which confirms this is viable. We are also in close communication with Lancaster City Council who are checking our business model and financial planning. Any surplus created in future years will be reinvested back into the project or will be used to support the creation of other similar projects in the District.

By investing in loan stock with Lapwing Housing Co-operative you will be making a very real contribution to creating a new form of community housing here.

Thank you for considering if this is possible for you.

For more information please read our Loan Stock FAQ document below.

To invest, please download and complete the Lapwing Investor Application Form below and email it to lapwing.housing.coop@gmail.com by 3 September 2023

If you have any questions please get in touch via lapwing.housing.coop@gmail.com

Invest in Lapwing

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