Selly Oak student specialist swaps spreadsheets for Alto

Selly Oak student lettings agent, House Hunt, has selected Alto as its AI-native CRM partner as the business transitions from manual processes to a fully integrated operational platform.

Operating just minutes from the University of Birmingham, House Hunt manages a portfolio of more than 1,000 properties – the majority of which are HMO student lets – with around 300 currently under management.

As the business has grown, the team identified increasing operational risk tied to manual processes and fragmented data. The agency described its previous operating model as increasingly unsustainable, with key information held across multiple systems and reliant on specific team members.

“All of our information was effectively in different places, or in people’s heads,” said Kiran Bhogal, Branch Manager (main image). “If two or three people are away, we have a problem. We needed a system where everyone can access everything and work from the same source of truth.”

Improved efficiency

The decision to implement Alto’s property management CRM was driven by the need to improve efficiency, enable collaboration across departments and support future expansion into residential lettings and sales.

Compliance automation was a particularly important factor, given the agency’s high proportion of HMO properties and the associated regulatory requirements.

With onboarding now underway, House Hunt is focused on embedding Alto across all departments to create a more resilient and scalable operation.

Nick Shaw, Chief Revenue Officer at Alto, said: “House Hunt is a great example of a fast-growing agency reaching the point where systems and processes need to catch up with ambition.

“Moving from spreadsheets and fragmented workflows to a single platform is a pivotal step, especially in a compliance-heavy environment like student HMOs. We’re delighted to be supporting Kiran and the team as they build a more scalable, resilient business.”