leon Ifayemi
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Latest property news
Letting agents “unfairly” taking deposits from millions of tenants, it is claimed
Letting agents and landlords have unfairly deducted money from the deposits of 2.34 million tenants or 16% of the UK’s renters, it has been claimed. Student lettings website SPCE, which started up last year and claims to have a 50,000 strong property inventory and deals with six universities in the UK, says its research among 2,000 tenants revealed that the problem was even worse among younger renters, who are less likely to know their rights. A quarter of younger tenants and 30% of students had seen their deposits returned with “unfair” deductions, it is claimed, while only 18% of all tenants have successfully challenged attempted deductions from their deposits by a letting agents or landlord. The research also reveals that many tenants lose a part of their deposits because of damage done by fellow housemates, or because of a problem created before they moved in but, presumably, not spotted when the move-in inventory was completed. The research follows figures published last year that revealed that landlords and agents took £1 billion from deposits, according to rental property interiors firm Hillarys. Leon Ifayemi, CEO and co-founder of SPCE (pictured, left), commented on the findings: “With rent prices at record highs, the financial…
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Latest property news
Student lettings app launches promising to improve student credit scores
An online-only student lettings agency that The Negotiator revealed was preparing to launch has now gone live, although with a new twist to its business model. SPCE, which has an inventory of 50,000 student rooms across the UK and partnerships with six universities plus institutional property investment firm Hines, says it is to also offer students the opportunity to improve their credit scores via credit agency Experian. Other unusual features of its service include enabling landlords and tenants to rate each other and the use of single tenancies rather than joint agreements. SPCE, which enables student to find and sign contracts for properties, set up rental guarantors and talk to their landlord all through a single app (pictured, right), is burning through the £280,000 it received from funding platform Seedrs earlier this year. It also about to launch an online service and dashboard for landlords. “Not only are we going to make it easy for students to find desirable properties and for landlords to locate new tenants, but we are also going to make communication between both parties throughout the tenancy absolutely effortless,” says CEO Leon Ifayemi (pictured, left). “By enabling students and landlords to receive ratings we are also…
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Latest property news
Latest proptech launch? The app-only lettings agency
Agents will soon have a new competitor for students lets, but not on the high street or online. Instead, an entirely app-based lettings agency specifically for university students is about to launch its proptech platform, backed by £280,000 raised on funding platform Seedrs. At launch the company says it will offer 50,000 rooms to rent, helped by listings from US institutional property investor Hines, which has handed over its entire UK student portfolio to SPCE. The service, which includes a website, smartphone application and an office in London, is due to launch during the first week of November and was created by former Leicester student housing ambassador and merchant banker Leon Ifayemi with adverting executive Omar Fahmi. “My job as a student ambassador was to take students to properties to view day in and day out and that’s where I saw the issues that students and landlords faced,” he says. Leon says he then saw a need for a solution that would arbitrate the problems that arise between landlords and students, and also handle the rental process from search to moving out, “rather than just portions of it”, he says. Tenants will use SPCE almost entirely through its proptech app,…
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Latest property news
Proptech student rental app wins £185k funding in 24 hours
A new app that claims to “revolutionise” the way students find and choose homes to rent has raised £185,827 for its proptech developer within 24 hours of launching on a crowdfunding site. SPCE, which describes itself as the Airbnb of student accommodation but within the longer-term rental market, has raised the money via platform Seedrs. The seven-month-old company says it is well on its way to raise the total of £215,000 it has asked for in return for a 17.99% equity in it shared among the 68 people who have invested so far. Landlords and students SPCE says it will bring landlords and students together on one platform and enable them to “rent out or search and pay for university-specific student rental properties based near campuses, without using estate agents” it says. Founder and CEO Leon Ifayemi (pictured, left), says: “I got the idea for SPCE when I was at university and I had a job which involved me taking students to view properties near the campus. “Getting the backing of early investors feels like a ringing endorsement of the app and what we are trying to achieve. It comforts us in the belief that SPCE fills a gap in the…
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