UKC

Can anyone recommend a trading platform for buying shares?  Any insight at all?

I'm looking to invest in a handful of commercial property companies/REITs.

Thanks, any thoughts as to the benefits of different platforms would be great.

They all have different charging structures so it comes down to how often you'll be trading and in what. You just have to look at them all and work it out unfortunately. HL works best for some, particularly if fund-heavy. Halifax is good if you're going to trade infrequently. AJ Bell might be best if you're talking big numbers. Ymmv.

Thanks, looking at c£10k split across 3 or 4 different property companies.  Likely investing this wknd and leaving it there for 3-5yrs.

Does that help??

I'm pretty sure if you download the HL app you can browse the shares/funds without an account. You can then see if what you want is listed, and the various charges etc before you pull the trigger. 

I use HL and like it, but I'm 90% in funds rather than individual stocks

https://www.google.com/search?q=trading+account+charges+uk

Unless you're expecting to do poorly, and not concerned about future capital gains tax, you might consider doing this inside a stocks/shares ISA.

Or, stick it all in Bitcoin and cash out to an off-shore private account :-P 

Second this...assuming you aren't already maxing out your £20k/year allowance, put it in a S&S ISA.

Bunging it all into crypto may very well yield a "line goes up" experience. Hell, you may even find yourself going to a local body in orbit of Earth. But, if you believe that "cashing out" is a Thing that can be done, you're the greater fool in the greater fool scam.

(Philip, I'm assuming you're being ironic and giving you the benefit of the doubt. Please don't tell me I'm wrong and NGMI.)

HL is good for funds, have a good interface for new investors and there customer service is great but they aren't the cheapest out there. Degiro is very cheap and also has a good interface and is good if you want to buy and sell reasonably regularly, but they cant be used for a stocks and shares ISA, unless you are investing a significant then the returns aren't likely to breach the threshold.

I use Barclays which has always been pretty good. 

As an aside, if you do end up dabbling in crypto then you can buy 4 of the currencies through PayPal which is dead easy. 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/stocks-shares-isas/

I use Freetrade. Its free (there is a paid tier with more functions), and has access to US and some European stocks as well as UK. Its app only, but the UI is nice enough, has options for ISA's etc. I've added and withdrawn over £30k with no issues. 

https://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/   is the most comprehensive discussion that I am aware of, though it might have more detail than you can face. The suggestion of using an ISA in most circumstances is very sensible - sorry if you were already intending to; even if you wouldn't otherwise pay tax on any income and gains, it will save a world of headaches in record keeping. (Unless you're going to generate losses, of course!)

I use AJ Bell. Simple, easy trades and decent customer service. 

I’ve got cash in ‘proper’ shares, however my sons £300 worth of Dogecoin turned into £3000 when he cashed out soon after. Not really my thing but I was impressed.

I use AJ Bell - really simple and trades are usually £1.50, which is manageable even on small trades.  I haven't explored much outside my own portfolio, but I think you can buy anything through the platform with a bit of searching - they certainly give you access to performance data on pretty much anything listed at most major stock exchanges.

There is a comparison site for comparing different fund platforms:-

comparefundplatforms.com

I would also suggest that, for what you want, you would be better investing in unit trusts rather than individual shares.