The firm is the brainchild of Rito Haldar and Ashwin Parameswaran, who have previously launched the peer-to-peer business Unbolted, which allows users to borrow against a range of assets.
With OnStep, users put down a deposit of five per cent. The rest of the money for the purchase comes from crowdfund investors.
Investors are given the option of either funding an equity loan, worth up to 30 per cent of the property’s value, or investing in the first-charge loan secured against the property itself.
As with a shared ownership deal, the buyer pays a discounted rent, and gets a 20 per cent share in any increase – or decrease – in the value of the property.
Buyers will have the option of staircasing up their share of the property, by purchasing additional shares of equity from investors through the site’s marketplace.
They sign a tenancy agreement for five years, and at the end of that period will have the option of extending the tenancy agreement, purchasing the property from OnStep outright at market price, or asking the firm to sell their stake.
Interested borrowers need to have an income of at least £40,000, and pass an affordability assessment. The total rent payment must be less than 40 per cent of their post-tax income.
OnStep will only help with the purchase of properties in London or “central areas of prime commuter towns”.
Properties must be valued at between £250,000 and £750,000, be of standard construction and not be a new build in order to qualify.
