Two property entrepreneurs are to launch a crowdfunding round next month to attract new investors into their home-sharers business.

Andy Graham, 29, and Nick Morris, 31, are seeking to raise £300,000 on Crowdcube in exchange for 15% of equity in their company Smart Property, which targets young professional house sharers in the north of England and midlands.

The two graduates, both of whom shared houses as students, founded their business after spotting a gap in the market.

Graham still lives in a house share.

He said: “The number of young, professional house sharers is rapidly increasing in the UK, due to soaring property prices which prevent young people from getting on the property ladder, or even from renting their own flat or house.

“These young professionals go to work every day and do not want a shabby, student-style house share.

“They want to share with other young professionals in smart, clean, fashionable, tech-smart properties with all mod-cons.

“We at Smart Property collaborate with landlords to refurbish properties and ensure that this new generation of house-sharers gets exactly what they are looking for.”

Landlords are offered guaranteed rent, while tenants are offered a ‘view today, move in tomorrow’ facility. They can pay rent that includes super-fast broadband, Sky, and semi-serviced living – for example, cleaning.

Graham said: “The company is expanding at a phenomenal rate, and we are offering for the first time the opportunity for private investors to be a part of this with us.”

He added that the business is currently taking on one property a month but turning others down because of limited funds.

The money raised via crowdfunding will fund the refurbishment of 40 more properties over the next 12 months.

Smart Property says its current valuation is £2m.

Around 4.5m houses, or 20% of properties in the UK, are now let out to house-sharers, and estate agent Savills predicts that the house-share market could account for an additional 1.1m properties by 2021.