proptech
-
Latest property news
Online lettings platform Goodlord raises £7.2m in extra funding
Online rental viewings and digital tenancy processing platform Goodlord says it has signed up 300 agents, transacted over 50,000 tenancies worth £200m since launching in August last year, and that is has raised an extra £7.2 million in funding. Goodlord also says it has signed up several big names including Strutt & Parker, Remax and London-based LiFe Residential, as well as 121,240 tenants and landlords. The three-year-old company, which spent two years in incubation and preparation before coming to market, raised the extra cash from several sources including Californian venture capital fund Ribbit Capital and two existing investors. The extra cash will be spent on expanding its headcount and Goodlord expects to have 117 employees by June this year, up from 11 last year. “This funding will allow us to move to the next stage in our plan to revolutionise the way that rental property lettings are done, taking away the pain for both landlords and tenants,” says Chief Executive Richard White (pictured, below). The company received £2m of start-up cash in May 2016 from German venture capital firm Global Founders Partners, one of the contributors to its latest round of funding. Goodlord’s platform and smartphone app is one way for…
Read More » -
Supplier advice
Connect with Qube
Trevor Youens explains how agent software provider, Qube, is connecting with the best in new proptech.
Read More » -
Features
PropTech potential
Sector specialist James Dearsley sets the stage for a regular, but racy, whizz around the world of new technology affecting and helping the property industry.
Read More » -
Guest Blogs
Tech control of your business
During my 38 years working as an agent I learned to appreciate why many smaller agents are resistant to change; if you’re not a corporate, trying new ideas can seem risky. But I’m worried that the 80% of the industry who are small businesses are missing out on the new ideas coming out of the current growth in tech and online, and that too many small agents instead just put on their tin hats and fire well-rehearsed ripostes. Historically, agents have pandered to sellers and landlords – those that pay the bills. But the whip hand is with, and the demand from, buyers and tenants. My argument is that without the tech to reach and service the new generation of millennials, existing agents could well become invisible to them. Without the tech to reach and service the new generation of millennials, existing agents could well become invisible to them.” And it’s the larger agents – including the much-criticised Countrywide – that are moving to take advantage of new tech. No surprises there as they have the advantage of economies of scale, and the ability to swallow mistakes. Back in the noughties, this enabled the bigger and corporate agents to benefit…
Read More » -
Latest property news
‘Proptech and eviction laws are emboldening tenants’
The rise of proptech-led apps coupled to the introduction of regulation to prevent the worst kind of predatory evictions has emboldened tenants and is one reason why more are asking for rent reductions, says David Cox, ARLA’s Managing Director. Last week ARLA revealed that the percentage of tenants asking for rent reductions has increased from 2.1% to 3%, the highest proportion since ARLA began keeping records. Cox says the relationship between landlord and tenant is now more balanced. This, he says, is because the plethora of private rented sector data now available online via both the portals as well as new apps such as recently-launched Movebubble mean many tenants are now more aware of local rental prices and whether their rent is fair or not. “Tenants are looking around and if they see that similar properties nearby are available to rent for much less, they now feel secure enough in their tenancies to start the rental re-negotiation process with their landlord,” says Cox. He says that many tenants who had complained to their landlord in the past about the condition of their property and subsequently asked for a reduction in rent would have been open to a retaliatory eviction, but that now this has…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Well-known names in estate agency go for ‘proptech’
Rob Wellstead and former Countrywide head of estate agency Bob Scarff join forces to create new technology for the property market.
Read More »
