Proptech
News focusing on new technological solutions which create efficiencies and cost-savings for estate and letting agents and the wider residential property industry.
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PropTech startup generates $4m
Spotahome, an online platform for mid to long-term rental accommodation, handled over $4 million (£2,864,629.76) in residential rental transactions since its UK launch in March 2016.
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Property licensing tracker proptech firm wins £500,000 investment
GetRentr receives financial backing from London lettings agency, leading City investment firm and several private investors.
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Pelican’s new tool for residential sales
Pelican Media is launching PelicanLITE, its latest and most efficient digital tool for residential sales.
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London house is first in UK bought via a mortgage deed signed and lodged online
on Rotherhithe in London will soon be famous for more than just its Brunel-built tunnel underneath the Thames. Yesterday, a house there became the UK’s first home purchased via a mortgage deed signed and lodged with the Land Registry online and without the need for a physical or witnessed signature. This begins a process that will see much of conveyancing and the mortgage lending process move from mountains of paper to an online procedure which, agents will be relieved to hear, is set to significantly speed up sales progression. This first transaction was completed by the Land Registry in partnership with Coventry Building Society and conveyancing firm Enact as part of an initial test. It included using the government’s online identity verification system GOV.UK Verify to enable the borrower involved to sign the mortgage deed online without the need for a witness. Pioneering The pioneering transaction is part of the Land Registry’s attempts to transform the conveyancing market by making home buying quicker and simpler. And although a small first step, the Land Registry says the transaction follows months of testing with Coventry Building Society and Enact. “By working with partners in the industry, we have secured a simpler and…
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GDPR: liability risks for agents
As the GDPR deadline approaches, many agents don’t know what is required of them – or their software provider.
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David Newnes supports AI platform Ask Porter
AskPorter, an artificial intelligence (AI) powered property management platform, has secured investment of £500,000 from experts led by former Executive Director of LSL Property Services, David Newnes.
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A Question of Property: Sheraz Dar, CEO of CreditLadder
The government is pulling out all the political stops to fix the UK’s ‘broken’ housing market and that includes helping more people to get on the property ladder. As part of this billion-pound push, HM Treasury last week announced that six tech firms had been chosen to compete in a £2 million race to develop a tech platform that will help tenants achieve home ownership more easily. CreditLadder.co.uk is one of them. It’s an online service that enables tenants to report their rental payments to Experian for free with the minimum of form filling. Its basic service is free for renters to use but the site charges agents a small fee to offer its service to tenants. Its website was the first in the UK to use Open Banking technology to enable tenants to report their rent. Tenants give CreditLadder permission to ‘read’ their bank account every month and verify that the rent has been paid in full and on time. CreditLadder is also the first in the UK to enable customers of Monzo and Starling Bank to report their rent to Experian. The Negotiator caught up CEO Sheraz Dar, who has a track record in both tech and property,…
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Spicerhart signs up 100 branches with deposits alternative service Flatfair
Agency group Spicerhaart has signed up with smartphone-based deposits alternative Flatfair and will now offer the service via the company’s 100 lettings branches to its 15,000 landlords. Instead of taking a deposit, tenants pay a ‘membership fee’ equivalent to one week’s rent while landlords are covered for up to 12 weeks’ worth of rent. Tenants are still liable for any damages to the property and unpaid rent, sums that Flatfair recovers itself on behalf of the landlord. Benefits claimed by Flatfair,which is not an insurance-based product unlike many of its competitors, include faster damage payouts, access to a pool of more reliable tenants via its tenant scoring system, faster lettings, lower agent costs and fewer lengthy voids. “Many landlords are concerned that their property is not sufficiently protected by a tenancy deposit, particularly true in the light of the upcoming deposit-cap, and that lengthy void periods and penalties eat away at their rental yield,” says Spicerhaart’s Lettings Development Director Paul Sloan (left). “We were highly impressed with Flatfair’s innovative technology and how easy the platform was to use. We’re confident it’ll mean not only lower up-front costs for tenants but also help make our landlords’ properties more appealing. Flatfair, which…
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Platform claims to save letting agents up to £3.5m
A Scottish proptech firm, Lettingweb, has launched its Letting Professionals Model Tenancy (LPMT) with legally binding digital signatures so that agents and tenants can complete tenancy agreements online, quickly and efficiently.
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Alexa! Make my life easier!
Vesper Homes, which rejoices in being a ‘pioneering proptech London estate agent’, has developed an Alexa Skill to make life easier for landlords and tenants.
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