'Proptech' for the rental market: new app Goodlord aims to make renting a property as simple as using Uber

Could a 'proptech' revolution make renting in London fairer?
New proptech app Goodlord has recently secured £2 million of seed funding and aims to make renting a property as simple as booking an Uber
Lizzie Rivera20 May 2016

The emerging technology market for the property industry, known as 'proptech', is big business.

Today, a new rental app, Goodlord, closed a round of seed funding with £2 million of investment.

The platform aims to make renting through letting agents more efficient by processing contracts, credit references and payments through one app - reducing the time it takes to rent a property from a couple of weeks to just a couple of days.

The app was co-created by former Foxtons estate agent Richard White, who says: "When I was working in the lettings industry I was staggered by how inefficient the processes were. People were still using fax machines and tenants were being asked to print and scan documents."

Now, all documents can be uploaded and e-signed by the agent and prospective tenant via the app.

So far, the quickest deal has been made within half an hour of a renter viewing a property. They had been through the platform six months earlier, so had a 'rental passport' with all credit checks and references completed.

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“Generation Rent is rightly demanding better customer service from letting agents,” says Robin Klein, co-founder of the LocalGlobe venture capital partnership, who invested in the app. “For too long tenants have felt powerless in a market where transactions are anything but transparent."

The app is currently used by 200 letting agencies across the UK, and aims to be working with 10 per cent of the country's 11,000 letting agents by the end of the year.

With a typical two-adult household paying letting fees of £388, a more streamlined process will hopefully lead to reduced costs for renters.

White says: "We would like the savings to be passed on, we support a fairer market. There's space for lettings agents that offer good quality service."

Tweet us to let us know if you've used any of the proptech featured, or recommend any other apps @HomesProperty.

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