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14/7/25 8:13 pm
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Europe’s first rent-to-own real estate fund is buying up rental properties from landlords exiting the market, to give tenants the chance to buy their own home.
The initiative from UK fintech Keyzy is like car leasing, as it lets first-time buyers move in immediately and use their monthly rent as a down payment. Tenants sign a fixed-term lease (typically two to four years) on rentals which are set at local market rates and can then apply up to 100% of the rent paid towards their purchase.
“In effect, we as the landlord are gifting them their deposit to buy the home after two years, and the equivalent rent paid after two years is around 10%,” Simon Groll, (pictured left with fellow co-founder Jeremy Matallah) Keyzy’s co-founder, tells LandlordZONE.
“Once they’ve paid the deposit, they would need to apply for a mortgage to purchase the property.”
Groll explains that the firm is mainly acquiring properties directly from property developers but is also looking at portfolios from landlords exiting the market. The majority are flats and single-family residences (new and second hand) in Greater London and commuter towns.
“We’re ready to make large-scale acquisitions across London – and focusing on acquiring portfolios of at least 10 properties,” he adds.
Keyzy has secured asset-backed funding to acquire more than £130 million worth of homes over the next 18 months. London is the first market, with three portfolios already secured. The next deal to be announced is in Southall, with 17 units purchased - mostly two and three beds.
The investment comes from Crayon Partners, a real estate private equity firm, and will enable Keyzy to expand its portfolio by buying 250 homes across Greater London by 2027, specifically targeting young professionals and key workers. It will underwrite applicant profiles using AI-driven scoring and open-banking data and will also provide a financial coaching app – Klink - which helps them improve financial habits that might otherwise prevent mortgage approval.
Keyzy also reports rental payments to credit reference agencies, actively building residents’ credit scores and increasing their chances of securing financing.
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