New land-selling app to capture fragmented small-plot market
Landlister's founder says he launched the platform, which is now on the Apple Store for mobile users, after struggling to sell a plot on behalf of his farming family.
An app has been launched on the Apple Store platform by a young businessman who tells The Neg he hopes to soon become the go-to platform for people wanting to buy and sell smaller plots of land for development.
David Osahon (main image), the founder of Landlister.co.uk, says the idea to launch his business came after a year ago he noticed how there were few places for owners of smaller plots to sell their land, with most turning to classified sites like Gumtree.
“But I soon noticed that there were several Facebook groups where people went to sell their plots, including one with some 200,000 members, but that otherwise there was nothing out there,” he says.
Osahon, who is currently the CTO at a high-value-asset trading portal and has worked at Investec Real Estate, stumbled upon the idea when he tried to sell some land on behalf of his family, who own a farm, and found nowhere to list the land for sale.
“Having read through the Facebook sites, I understood that I was not the only one feeling this lack of fit,” he says.
“Rightmove and Zoopla are for really just for residential and plotfinder and Addland are quite institutional, and I felt none of these platformers were relevant to my family’s needs.”
Osahon looked to the US for inspiration, where found some 50 sites offering land for sale, including one that offered free listings to those trying to sell small single plots.
Landlister was born, enabling individuals to sell land for free and estate agents to advertise plots for relatively low sums across a range of property types including for residential development but also farmland, rural buildings, equestrian properties and coastal land.
Osahon says: “Our goal is to be open but also a controlled, safe and compliant space for both individuals and for agents including very importantly KYC.
“We have a free tier where we verify users and an agent tier for branches who have land for sale too.
“But also, neither do we want to cannibalise the agent market, so we currently cap individual sellers at £150k and one listing.”
