While property selling platform Purplebricks is now something of a household name, it’s not the only proptech company that’s changing the face of the housing market.
As technology advances, it seems that parts of the UK’s property sector are moving forward with innovative new offerings and processes to keep apace with the modern world, while others are at risk of getting left behind. Although many in the industry still prefer to do things the traditional way, there are now a huge number of proptech start-ups offering ways to make buying, selling and renting property easier, cheaper and more efficient.
In light of this, digital news website Techworld has just released a list of who it deems to be the top 15 proptech companies with the best offerings right now in the industry.
The top 15…
1. Proportunity: Using artificial intelligence technology, the company claims to be able to help people get onto the property ladder by predicting future market changes, as well as boosting the buyer’s deposit.
2. GetRentr: Helps agents and landlords to comply with private rented sector (PRS) regulations, as well as monitoring people’s property portfolios to ensure they are always up-to-date in terms of compliance.
3. Purplebricks: The most well-known proptech firm on the list, this is an online estate agent that claims to offer an easier and cheaper way to sell your home by charging flat rates rather than commission-based costs.
4. Settled: Similar to Purplebricks, Settled offers a platform for buying and selling properties without the need for an estate agent, with marketing on Rightmove, Zoopla and other sites.
5. Nested: It claims to be the only estate agent – all done online – that allows you to withdraw money from your current property while you’re waiting to sell it, and effectively enables you to negotiate as a “chain-free buyer”.
6. Movebubble: One for London’s thousands of renters, this is an app that allows people to search and compare areas and properties, as well as book viewings and receive property recommendations.
7. Rentify: Working for private landlords and tenants, it allows landlords to carry out all their rental processes online, including advertising and tenant management, on a commission basis that claims to be significantly lower than high street agents.
8. Appear Here: This is actually focused towards businesses looking for short-term spaces to rent by filling in the specifics of what you’re looking for (or what you can offer if you’re a landlord with a space to fill).
9. Virtual Commercial: An online commercial agent, this online platform offers a fixed fee rather than commission allowing people to market their commercial property offering for a flat rate.
10. Goodlord: Another proptech for the rental market, Goodlord aims to make the letting process smoother for landlords, agents and tenants using a cloud-based system that generates contracts, offers e-signing and referencing as well as insurance digitally.
11. Propoly: An online rental platform that helps landlords interact with tenants more easily, while also assisting agents in going digital, with online processes including deposit and rent collection, storing references and managing contracts.
12. Canopy: This offers a “rent passport” to help renters build up their credit ratings to enable them to get on the housing ladder in the future. Tenants also make an insurance payment rather than an upfront deposit to the landlord.
13. Acasa: This is an app that allows users to pay their bills using one online platform, as well as the ability to track other household costs, which can be used by homeowners as well as renters to make things easier.
14. HomeRenter: Another proptech platform that offers a “one-stop-shop” for landlords and tenants to do all their dealings online, with properties for rent also promoted on sites like Zoopla and Rightmove.
15. Homie: Currently aimed at London-based renters, Homie offers a service to help prospective tenants find a new property if they are too busy to do the searching themselves.