Large chunk of homeowners run a mile from P2P lending

A report carried out by buy-to-let peer-to-peer lender Landbay and Yougov suggests that many homeowners throughout the UK would not consider P2P lending as a viable option of raising money.

42 per cent of people quizzed by the site admitted that they still felt that there was too much risk involved in peer-to-peer lending and that they wouldn’t be willing to take the risk of getting involved.

The survey, covering 2000 homeowners, shows that the majority of people surveyed felt the risk of loss outweighed the chance of profit.

Results were split heavily by different demographics, with young homeowners being more open to risk than owners aged 55 and over.

P2P lending also would appear, according to the research, to be held back by a perceived lack of knowledge.

22 per cent of those asked had never heard of peer-to-peer lending and 17 per cent admitted to having no idea how it worked.

Just one in twenty owners who took part in the survey had participated in P2P.

30 per cent of owners who had used peer-to-peer platforms invested relatively modest amounts of £1000 or less, with 18 per cent investing £5000 or more.

Commenting on the different findings and what they could be perceived to mean for the industry Landbay cofounder and CEO John Goodall said: “At Landbay we’ve gone out of our way to be open and up front about the risks involved on our platform, but we’re equally open about the unique range of protections our model offers.

“We’ve based our proposition around creating the most risk-proof peer-to-peer platform, in an industry sometimes reluctant to mention the R word.”

“These research findings highlight the need to debate the merits of risk more in financial planning.

“We need an open and proper discussion on whether more people should consider moving a small proportion of their savings into an investment.

“Of course risk is not for everyone, but it appears too many hoard large amounts of money in cash savings when it might be wise to consider putting a small amount of those savings at risk in exchange for better returns as part of a balanced approach.”