Financial squeeze closes UK residential property stock exchange

The UK's only residential property stock exchange, Property Investment Market, has been forced to close after it failed to raise sufficient funds to meet European financial regulations, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

The company blamed problems in the financial markets for the failure to raise the money to comply with the conditions. The six properties listed on the exchange, which have a total valuation of about £875,000 (EUR 1.2 mln), are to be sold. Shareholders will receive a share of the proceeds and any non-invested funds held by the exchange will also be returned.

According to the newspaper report, between 500 and 750 investors in the exchange, which was a new attempt to encourage widespread residential investment in the UK, have been affected by the closure.

The company was launched in 2005 under the name Opramark by chief executive Stephen Kenny, who had helped set up Betfair. The venture aimed to give small investors the chance to tap into the growth of the buy-to-let market without needing to raise the money or take on the full risk. Each property was owned by an individual public limited company in which investors were the shareholders. Shares in the properties could be traded in a similar way to equities, with dividends provided from the rent, and the prospect of share price growth if house prices rose.