WEEKLY NEWS ROUNDUP – 20/05/2022
A roundup of the week’s top property and proptech news stories in partnership with Proptech-X
nurtur.group continues to strengthen its leadership team
With my non-journalist hat on, and to ensure complete transparency, I also hold a position as a non-executive director at nurtur.group – AS
Following the recent acquisition of BriefYourMarket, proptech supplier, nurtur.group has announced that Damon Bullimore has been appointed as the Chief Technology Officer of the group. Acting CEO and Co-Founder of BriefYourMarket, Bullimore will further enhance the organisation’s tech offering to the brands within the network.
Bullimore has held several notable senior positions, including CTO of Property Logic, MD of Ashley Adams, CTO of Fraxion, Founder of ScanGate and was also a Director of E Services at Epro (Royal Mail). As the CEO and Co-Founder of BriefYourMarket since 2008, Bullimore is responsible for the business’s growth, as well as its technology and product strategies. Under his leadership the business has developed into an award-winning organisation and one of the UK’s fastest growing technology companies. Bullimore has been instrumental in the continued transformation and development of the business through his strategic planning and foresight, an example of which is BriefYourMarket’s recent acquisition of Yomdel, an industry-leading live chat provider and KnowYourMarket, a market insight provider.
As CTO at nurtur.group, Bullimore will be responsible for enhancing and implementing the organisation’s product development roadmap, while assisting in further development of innovative digital and tech services to ensure all our products are best in class for our customers.
Jon Cooke, CEO of nurtur.gorup, a business which acquired Starberry, The Property Jungle, LeadPro and more recently BriefYourMarket, says: “As an organisation we are focused on providing the agents within our network with the proptech tools and digital services which deliver a true return on investment required to enhance their businesses and stay ahead of their competition. The importance of digital marketing and online lead generation continues to grow as the industry evolves. The businesses we have acquired, along with the appointments of technology innovators such as Damon, will allow us to continue to adapt and develop with the evolving needs of the sector.”
“I am very pleased to be able to be a part of an organisation such as the nurtur.group that is focused on innovation within the digital and tech space for the property sector. nurtur.group has the desire to become best in class with a laser focus on investment for all our proptech products, a vision I know we are all focused on achieving. The business is well positioned to deliver not just industry leading services, but also technology solutions to all its Members and Licensees. I hope that both my wealth of knowledge and extensive experience within the proptech sector can help to support the goal of the organisation,” says Bullimore.
Cooke adds: “It is great to welcome Damon to the team. His appointment to the senior team will allow nurtur.group to continue to focus on product and tech development for the property professionals within the network. Technology has always played an important role in the industry, none more so than in current times.”
PRESS RELEASE: BriefYourMarket partnerships take lead generation to next level
Generating and nurturing leads is the backbone of estate agency. According to Richard Combellack, Chief Commercial Officer at BriefYourMarket, this is exactly what BriefYourMarket is about, finding and nurturing new leads via a variety of marketing communications using email, social media and print.
He adds that the acquisition of Yomdel and KnowYourMarket a year ago has enabled the business to take its lead generation and nurturing service to the next level. “Along with using email and social media to generate leads, Yomdel takes it a stage further by creating, and nurturing leads via an agent’s website, booking valuations and appointments straight into the agent’s CRM or diary. Considering that statistically around 55% never make it into an agent’s CRM, having a system in place that ensures each lead is followed up is essential,” says Combellack.
“Where KnowYourMarket comes in is measuring every human touch point a client has with a prospect once the lead has been secured. It is market research made up of mystery shopping, along with some customer feedback to analyse a client’s processes in order to tweak, improve, train and refine for the future. It is about understanding what happens to a lead within your business and then being able to make adjustments to ensure your business is able to improve on its conversion rate. It looks as aspects such as whether your team replies to form fills quickly, mention everything they should on the phone, provide a warm welcome to visitors in branch and keep in communication throughout the process. This feedback will help agents to improve their processes and win more business going forward,” Combellack comments.
He adds that, as an estate agency, understanding your market position and how it is perceived by clients is crucial. This data allows businesses to set objectives that help them achieve higher levels of success and growth in their market. “Having data and statistics about how your customers perceive your business gives you the insight you need to make the right changes to improve your customer experience and convert more leads. If a business is spending money on obtaining leads, it is important that the right processes are in place to ensure that investment is not wasted, and the leads are given every chance to convert,” he notes.
According to Combellack, BriefYourMarket, Yomdel and KnowYourMarket, cover the entire property purchase process when it comes to generating and nurturing leads. He adds that the nurtur.group acquisition earlier this year further adds to this offering. “In addition to the services we provide, we now have links to Starberry who build websites for estate agents, The Guild of Property Professionals who have an array of products that help independent agents convert better, and Fine & Country that helps agents provide the level of service that higher-priced properties demand. As a collective group, we now have everything an estate agent needs to improve every aspect of their business in order to generate and nurture leads, and grow,” he concludes.
MyIdentity selects Armalytix to create a proof-of-wealth solution for the property market
Armalytix, the open banking technology platform which streamlines the collection of data for the professional and financial services industries, has been selected to be an attribute provider for the government-backed MyIdentity scheme, helping to create a digital record of identification and source of funds.
The scheme has been launched to bring together trusted UK identity providers who are working towards certification in line with government standards, aiming to make home buying and selling a quicker and more secure process for consumers.
With property and mortgage fraud increasing exponentially during the pandemic, and the Land Registry paying out £3.5million in compensation for fraud-related cases in 2021 alone – up from £2million in 2020 – the UK government has recognised the need to accelerate the digitalisation of identity checks to help combat this.
Tom Lyes, Head of Legal and Property at Armalytix said: “We’re excited to be joining forces with MyIdentity, as the only source of funds provider on the scheme. Our vision for a form free future is shared by MyIdentity and through this partnership, we are creating a one-stop-shop for anyone looking to buy a house. As the property market is rife with money laundering and fraud risks, it’s crucial that we can create a safer and more intelligent future for those in the house buying process.
“Through our partnership with MyIdentity, we’re able to give consumers more control over sharing their details and ensure that the sharing of financial information can be a safe and smooth process.”
Stuart Young, managing director and founder of MyIdentity, commented: “The MyIdentity scheme creates a standard digital method of identity verification across the home buying and selling process, reducing the number of times consumers are asked to confirm their identity.
“We recognised that, firstly due to the Covid-19 lockdowns, and now with horror stories such as people having their houses sold without their knowledge, it was important that consumers could create a secure, digital identity certification that could be shared easily with those involved in the house purchasing process, including estate agents, conveyancers, lawyers, financial advisors and mortgage providers.
“We’re excited to partner with Armalytix to provide consumers with a platform to get any paperwork they might need, digitally.”
MyIdentity is taking part in the FCA Sandbox, which presents a chance for businesses to test innovative propositions in the market with real consumers and is expected to run until December 2022.
Armalytix is on a mission to create a form free future, revolutionising client experience and liberating organisations and individuals from the costs, risks, and hassle of unnecessary admin. Utilising open banking technology to streamline the collection of data for the professional and financial services industries, Armalytix reduces the time and effort spent gathering, verifying, and analysing data, reducing the compliance and reputational risk associated with data collection.
Etive is a digital identity and property data technology company which has been working in identity since 2014 and which led on the Digital Identity Trust Scheme for the Home Buying and Selling Sector project from November 2020 to April 2021, whilst setting the parameters of what is required for a trust scheme.
Is Rishi Sunak to blame for the overheated housing market?
Since his super-rich and non-dom status has been plastered across the media, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been quiet as he attempts to avoid the glare of the public’s stare. But is he the architect of the present problems with the housing market?
Sunak’s play was a textbook copy of Nigel Lawson’s folly – tinkering around with the financials of the housing market in 1988, causing two million to move in a year, MIRAS changes, followed by a four-year housing recession.
“The average agent is listing, in some cases, 60% less inventory than they normally would, causing house price madness.”
Is the present superheated property market, stimulated by the Chancellor’s SDLT giveaway, going to yield the same results?
I was active as an agent from the mid-1980s to 2016, and in all that time, through different markets, there has never been so little housing stock to sell in the UK. The average agent is listing, in some cases, 60% less inventory than they normally would, causing house price madness.
In my area, the tip of Oxford and Buckinghamshire, two-bedroom homes are £300,000, up from £250,000 just over a year ago – that’s £150,000 a bedroom, an index that can not sustain. In my village, a new home developer is marketing semi-detached properties at £500,000. Again, just over a year ago, second-hand semi-detached properties were selling at £350,000.
Where will it all end? Many buyers are going to reflect in a few years, in a state of misery, that the home they live in is not worth the price they paid, and their two-year fixed-rate mortgage at 2.3%, which is expiring, has now jumped to 3.8%, which means huge wage inflation is needed.
The Prime Minister can talk about levelling up and making property affordable for first-time buyers all he wants, but if his Chancellor allows super inflation on property prices, this type of rhetoric rings hollow.
A more significant problem for the government is this – if the housing market stalls, so do the other industries that depend upon it. For sure, in the financial sector re-mortgage business will be brisk, but the amount of associated trades that feed off a person who moves is staggering.
Because a person who moves home becomes, for a period, an uber-consumer, on average pushing around £47,000 into the economy. A big figure made up of SDLT revenue, agency and solicitor costs, surveying costs, the purchase of new carpets, housing goods, conservatories, landscaping services… the list goes on. If the pace of movers slows so does the multi-billion economy that sits behind it.
But can we really lay the blame firmly at Rishi Sunak’s door? Well, there are other things in the mix, like the great resignation and working from home, all stimulated by the pandemic. For many, life is too short. Cutting back or just doing work that pleases the soul rather than what pays the mortgage has seen many dump the mortgage and move.
“…from his premium, gilded financial position, the future will always be bright. Rishi has little to worry about.”
Working from home means that many can move away from the large conurbations and London is no longer the centre of the business universe. Also, if working from home means home is a one-bedroom flat, well that needs to be swapped for a property that can have a study or workspace.
I think that Rishi’s SDLT cash giveaway galvanised the minds of many in the nation to act, so in my opinion he has to carry the can. But from his premium, gilded financial position, the future will always be bright. Rishi has little to worry about.
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