A Yorkshire-born businessman who launched a startup on the other side of the globe is now returning to the UK to expand his company鈥檚 reach.
Chris Smith, once a senior mortgage strategist at Yorkshire Building Society and the Bank of New鈥痁ealand, is spearheading Bloxx as he looks to revolutionise how people access home ownership.
Drawing on his lived experience growing up in social housing, Smith is aiming to dismantle traditional mortgage barriers and offer a scalable, private-market solution focused on equity.
From social housing to home ownership
Having grown up in social housing, Smith remembers rent as a constant worry. It wasn鈥檛 until he landed a staff mortgage at his first job – with no deposit, no profit, and repayments akin to rent – that he began to build a future.
鈥淪ix months in, everything changed,鈥� he recounted. 鈥淗ome ownership felt completely different to renting. We put down roots, invested in our home, and became part of the community.聽
鈥淔inancially, the shift was even greater. Our home stopped being a cost and became our primary investment.
That early experience not only changed his family鈥檚 life but also his ambitions and views.聽
Smith now sees home ownership not as a dream, but as a right and believes there鈥檚 a way to get people out of the ‘rental trap’.
A 鈥楳atrix moment鈥�
Smith spent over 20 years in banking, rising to senior ranks in large organisations before hitting a turning point eight years ago.聽
He said: 鈥淚n 2017, I had a painful realisation: even as CEO, I wouldn鈥檛 be able to change the system.聽
鈥淚t was too entrenched. That was my 鈥楳atrix鈥� moment.鈥�
Leaving behind aspirations of becoming a bank CEO, he committed himself to create Bloxx – a FinTech platform geared to democratise home ownership.
Rethinking the norm
Smith鈥檚 formative banking years, particularly during the 2008 financial crisis, revealed to him that banks primarily act as intermediaries.聽
He explained: 鈥淲hat if we could create a new type of intermediary? One that doesn鈥檛 lend, but enables a different way for money to flow into homes?鈥�
That is now what his startup does, as it is offering a commercial, scalable route to owner equity without debt, while delivering returns to businesses and benefits to buyers and communities.
Do mortgages still work?
According to Smith, the UK home ownership model, reliant on mortgage debt, is now failing its citizens.聽
鈥淭here are two major failures: affordability and supply,鈥� he noted. 鈥淕lobally, this is a consistent theme.
鈥淏efore 2008, easy lending created false demand. After the crash, low interest rates turned housing into an investment vehicle.聽
鈥淣ow homes cost over eight times the average salary. In the past, it was three. That gap is locking people out.
鈥淎s interest rates normalise, the system鈥檚 fragility is exposed. Build-to-rent models and generational renting are symptoms, not solutions.聽
鈥淢eanwhile, not enough homes are being built. Bloxx is designed to tackle both issues head-on: to make ownership affordable again, and to stimulate supply.鈥�
Building Bloxx
The model of Smith鈥檚 startup aims to bridge the gap between renting and full mortgage ownership, providing security and agency from the outset.
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Smith explained: 鈥淏loxx replaces debt with equity. You become an owner from day one with just 1% down.聽
鈥淲e buy the home with you, then you build your equity each month through fixed payments.聽
鈥淚t is a similar amount to rent, but builds ownership. No mortgage, no interest, no loan repayments.鈥�
The Tinder of property
Technology underpins Bloxx, enabling the business. In the future, the company plans to use it for financial education, community connections and integrating web3 tools to create home ownership ecosystems.聽
鈥淐rucially, Bloxx is tech-enabled, not tech-led,鈥� clarified the former Yorkshire Building Society figure.
鈥淭he innovation lies in the model itself. We鈥檝e built a digital system that matches customers with homes, based on data points like income, budget and family structure, key among them being their true affordable budget. Think of it as the ‘Tinder of property’.鈥�
Ready to scale in the UK
Bloxx piloted in New鈥痁ealand, validating nearly NZ$2bn in housing demand without marketing. For Smith, that signalled urgency and a plan was put in place to scale elsewhere.
He said: 鈥淏loxx has always been built with our customers. That trust has created a powerful connection, and when we share the model, people immediately see its value.鈥�
He is now on the search for institutional partners in the UK who share Bloxx鈥檚 mission as much as its commercial logic.
Scaling without an exit in mind
Smith describes Bloxx as more than a FinTech, but more of a movement without an end date.
Bootstrapped from day one, the company spent two years building institutional-grade infrastructure before launching in New Zealand.聽
Now, with UK foundations set – legal frameworks, a local team and a live UK transaction under its belt – it is gearing up for national rollout.
鈥淲e鈥檙e dealing with life鈥檚 biggest purchase, a home,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat takes trust, rigour and care. It also requires a capital model capable to finance the purchasing of up to 100,000 homes demanding a more deliberate, mission-focused strategy.鈥�
鈥淭his is not a business being built for a quick exit; I want to lead Bloxx for the rest of my career.聽
鈥淭alking to our customers’ and understanding the profound effect that a聽lack of housing access has on their lives has forged an unbreakable bond.聽
鈥淲e are not merely building a startup; we are building a movement with the very people who need us to succeed and we now need to bring the values aligned institutional investors into that relationship.鈥�