You make one introduction. We do everything else.
Prop Invest UK raises private capital into UK property developments. If you introduce someone who later places capital in one of our projects, we pay you 2% of the capital drawn. You do not describe the opportunity, quote anything, send anything or answer a single question about the investment. That is our job, and contractually it stays our job.
Nine years. Eighty-plus properties. A £15m portfolio across South Wales, the M4 corridor and the South West.
This page describes a commercial introducer arrangement. It is not an invitation or inducement to invest and contains no investment offer.
Why this programme comes with paperwork
At thirty I was packing cheese in a factory in Somerset.
In 2020 I met a man called James. He had made money in crypto and wanted a property portfolio. He offered me twenty per cent of it plus a salary to build it for him. We shook hands on it.
Over twelve months I built £4.5m of property for him. Then I went back to formalise the shares, and James had gone. The crypto crash had taken him with it. No shareholders’ agreement. No share certificate. Nothing on paper. Roughly a million pounds of value, gone.
I made myself a millionaire and lost it inside twelve months, and I did it to myself, because I never asked for a single piece of paper.
I took two things from that. Never again on a handshake. Never again without paperwork.
Then I met Freddie, now my business partner, who honoured the structure to the letter. Six years later the portfolio is £15m.
So when you read the agreement, the script and the fee disclosure and think it looks heavy for a 2% introduction fee — that is why. I have paid for the alternative.
Martin Howard, Founder, Prop Invest UK
2% of the capital actually drawn
One level. No tiers, no overrides on anyone else’s introductions, no sub-introducers to recruit, no volume ladder, nothing to buy and nothing to subscribe to. A flat fee, in a short written agreement.
The trigger is drawdown, not commitment. Somebody signing a document does not create a fee. Money arriving in the project does.
What one introduction is worth
| Capital drawn from the investor you introduced | Your fee at 2% |
|---|---|
| £100,000 | £2,000 |
| £250,000 | £5,000 |
| £500,000 | £10,000 |
Typical investor commitments run between £100,000 and £500,000. Where capital is drawn in tranches, you are paid on each tranche as it is drawn.
The terms, in full
- Fee — 2% of the capital drawn into a Prop Invest UK project from an investor you introduced.
- Paid — within 30 days of cleared funds and a valid invoice from you.
- Attribution — logged and confirmed in writing on the day you make the introduction.
- Later projects — how a repeat investment is treated is written into your agreement at the start, not argued about afterwards.
- Cost to you — none, at any stage.
- Minimum introductions — none. No target, no expected volume.
I am not going to suggest introductions convert reliably. Most people introduced to a developer do not end up investing, for sensible reasons of timing, allocation and fit. The fee is worth what it is worth because the outcome is not automatic.
The job is one conversation
Read this section twice. It is the part that decides whether the programme is right for you.
What you do
- You think of someone. Somebody in your network with capital to place who might be a fit. Your judgement, your timing.
- You ask one question. In your own words: “Would you like me to pass your details to a property developer I know who takes private investment into development projects?”
- You pass us the name. Name, contact details, and one line on how you know them.
That is the complete role. It fits inside one short conversation.
What you never do
- Describe the opportunity
- Quote a return, a rate, a range or a rough idea
- Send documents, links or brochures
- Discuss projects, locations, timelines or structures
- Answer their questions about the investment — you pass the question to us
- Encourage, recommend, advise, or suggest that anyone should invest
If they ask you something, the correct answer is that you honestly do not know, and they should ask us.
From the moment that name reaches us, we do all of it. We make contact, qualify them, explain the model, discuss the return structure directly with them if they qualify, send every document and handle every stage. You make one introduction. We do everything else.
The narrow role is the point, and it works in your favour
Under section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, communicating an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity is restricted to authorised firms. Describing an investment opportunity can be exactly that. Asking whether someone would like to be contacted, and passing on a name, is a different act. So the programme is built so the regulated conversation only ever happens between us and the investor. You are never in it.
You carry no regulated responsibility
The promotion, the qualification of the investor and every document are ours. You are not communicating a financial promotion because you are not permitted to describe anything.
There is nothing to sell
Nothing to pitch, no objection to handle, no follow-up. If you are not a salesperson, this asks you to do nothing a salesperson would do. Someone who wanted to sell would find this arrangement frustrating.
You are not on the hook for performance
You are not a party to the investment. You made no representations and gave no advice, because you were never allowed to. Development carries risk and we say so plainly to investors, directly, before they commit. That risk sits between us and them.
Your relationship stays yours
You are not asking your client to do anything. You are asking whether they would like to be contacted. They will hear the difference, and you can never end up having talked something up that later disappoints.
It runs both ways. If anyone here ever asks you to say more than the above, something has gone wrong and Martin wants to know.
Being straight about fit
Who this suits
- Accountants and tax advisers with clients who have had a liquidity event
- Solicitors — corporate, private client, property
- Wealth managers and IFAs whose permissions and firm rules allow it
- Mortgage, commercial finance and business brokers
- Senior professionals and directors with substantial personal networks
- Existing investors who know others in a similar position
Who this does not suit
- Anyone who wants to sell. There is nothing here to sell.
- Anyone looking for volume. This works on a small number of well-matched introductions.
- Anyone whose regulator, professional body or firm prohibits a commission of this kind. Some do, outright, and disclosure does not fix it.
- Anyone who would be uncomfortable telling the person they introduce that they are being paid. If you would not want them to know, do not make the introduction.
On fiduciary duty, the honest answer
If you owe a fiduciary or client duty to the person you would introduce, you cannot take an undisclosed profit out of that relationship. At minimum the fee must be disclosed to them in writing, and you may need their informed consent.
Beyond that, your own regulator or your firm’s internal rules may prohibit an introduction fee at all, disclosed or not. The SRA, the FCA and the accountancy bodies treat this differently, and firms often overlay their own policy on top.
We cannot tell you whether you can accept the fee, and we will not try. That is a question for your compliance function or your professional body, and we would much rather you asked it before making an introduction than after. If the answer is no, tell us and we will leave it there.
From application to first fee, in five steps
- You apply. A short form on this page. Five minutes. It tells us what you do and roughly who is in your network, and it asks two questions about your regulatory position, because those decide whether we can go any further.
- A twenty-minute call with Martin. Not a pitch. A commercial conversation about an arrangement. Ask what you want to ask. Nothing to sign and nothing to decide on the call.
- You check your own position. Firm rules, professional body, compliance function. Take the time you need. A fair number of people conclude their firm will not allow it, and that is a perfectly acceptable outcome.
- You sign the agreement. One short document in plain English. It states what you do, what you do not do, what you are paid and when. You read it, or your solicitor does. There is still no obligation to introduce anybody.
- You introduce someone, and you are paid on drawdown. When the right person appears — not before. We log the introduction and attribute it to you in writing the same day. If they commit and capital is actually drawn into the project, you receive 2% of the capital drawn, within 30 days of cleared funds and a valid invoice.
Four pieces of paper, and why each one exists
A written introducer agreement
Short, plain English, specific about what you do, what you do not do, what you are paid and when. It records that you make no representations and give no advice. That is your protection as much as ours.
An approved script
You are given the one question to ask, in wording we have approved. You never have to work out where the line is, because you are never asked to go near it.
A written fee disclosure to the investor
Standard wording you can use to tell the person you introduce, in writing, that you are being paid and how much. Disclosure is required wherever you owe them a duty, and it is the thing that keeps the relationship clean.
A logged paper trail
Your introduction is recorded and attributed in writing on the day you make it. Payment, tranches and repeat investments are all documented. No retrospective arguments about who introduced whom.
None of this is compliance for its own sake, and no solicitor made us do it. Read the story at the top of this page again.
Questions people ask before applying
What exactly am I being paid for?
Introducing a person to Prop Invest UK who subsequently commits capital that is drawn into one of our development projects. The fee is 2% of the capital actually drawn from that investor. Not 2% of a commitment, not 2% of a project value, not 2% of a profit share.
Is this a network marketing or affiliate scheme?
No. There is one level. You introduce someone and you are paid on that introduction. No override on anybody else’s introductions, no sub-introducers to recruit, no tiers, no ranks, no volume ladder, nothing to buy and nothing to subscribe to. The other tell is what triggers payment: money has to physically arrive in a development project before anyone is paid anything. It is closer to a finder’s fee on a corporate transaction than anything else.
Am I taking on regulatory risk?
The design exists to answer exactly that. The restricted activity is communicating a financial promotion — describing an investment, its returns, its merits. You do none of it. You ask whether someone would like to be contacted and you pass on a name. The description, the qualification of the investor and the documentation all sit with us, and the written agreement records that scope in terms. What we will not do is tell you that your own regulator permits you to accept the fee. That is a separate question and it belongs with your compliance function.
My firm or professional body may not allow me to take an introduction fee at all. What then?
Then you should not take one. Some professionals, depending on their regulator, their permissions and their firm’s internal policy, are prohibited from accepting a fee of this kind regardless of disclosure. Check your position before making any introduction, not after. If the answer is no, tell us and we will leave it there with no awkwardness.
Do I have to tell the person I introduce that I am being paid?
Yes, in writing, wherever you owe them a professional or fiduciary duty. You cannot take an undisclosed profit out of a client relationship. We provide standard disclosure wording you can adapt. The honest test is simpler than the rule: if you would be uncomfortable telling that person you are being paid for the introduction, do not make it.
What if the project performs poorly? Am I liable?
No. You are not a party to the investment, you made no representations about it and you gave no advice, because you were never permitted to. Development carries risk and we do not present it otherwise. That risk is disclosed to investors directly by us, in detail, before they commit anything. The reason you are insulated from it is precisely the reason the role is narrow — you never made a case for it, so you are not standing behind it.
What do investors actually earn?
That is not discussed on this page or by an introducer, and you will not find a figure anywhere on this site. Stating one would turn a recruitment page into a financial promotion, which is restricted. The return structure is discussed directly with qualifying investors, by us, and nowhere else. The discipline we apply to this page is the discipline the programme asks of you for one conversation.
How many introductions am I expected to make, and what does it cost me?
None, and nothing. There is no cost to becoming an introducer, no minimum, no target and no obligation to introduce anybody at all. Some introducers make one introduction in a year. That is a normal outcome, not a failure.
Apply to become a Prop Invest UK introducer
A short form, then a twenty-minute call with Martin. Nothing to sign, nothing to buy, and nothing owed by having the conversation.
If you conclude your firm will not allow it, tell us and that is the end of it. We would far rather have that conversation now than after somebody has taken a fee they were not permitted to take.
Applications are read by Martin Howard directly. Expect a reply within two working days.
Prop Invest UK. This page describes a commercial introducer arrangement and is not an invitation or inducement to invest, nor an offer of any investment. No investment return figures appear on this page, by design. Property development involves risk, including the risk of loss of capital. Project structure and return structure are discussed directly with qualifying investors only. Introducers must satisfy themselves that their own regulator, professional body and firm permit them to receive an introduction fee.