Breaking Property News – 12/03/24

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.

Alto customers get access to ViewMyChain to help reduce fall throughs

Press Release LONDON, UK – 12 March 2024 – Alto, the market-leading software for estate agents and part of Houseful is pleased to announce its latest integration with ViewMyChain, the UK’s only data-driven chain management tool. This integration enhances the sales progression process for estate agents by providing greater visibility, responsiveness to changes and certainty.

ViewMyChain’s innovative platform offers data-led intelligence and full visibility of automatically constructed chains, including split chains, allowing estate agents to achieve faster completions and reduce fall-throughs.

“We are excited to partner with ViewMyChain to provide our customers with enhanced tools and capabilities with which to navigate the sales process,” said Riccardo Iannucci-Dawson, Chief Operating Officer at Alto. “This integration reflects our commitment to empowering estate agents to have everything they need to run their agency, all in one place.”

With the integration of ViewMyChain into Alto’s marketplace, Alto customers can access ViewMyChain’s features which have a track record of delivering meaningful business improvements for users.

Key benefits of the integration include; Faster completions, Fewer fall-throughs, Split chain visibility and Automatically constructed chains – freeing up valuable time

“We are thrilled to join forces with Alto to improve the sales progression process, saving agents valuable time whilst delivering more certainty for all stakeholders,” said Paul Halliwell, Executive Director of ViewMyChain. “Together, we are empowering estate agents with the tools they need to succeed, especially during challenging market conditions when every sale matters.”

The ViewMyChain integration is now available in Alto’s marketplace. To learn more about this integration and how it can benefit your business, visit https://www.altosoftware.co.uk/alto-agenda/viewmychain/

ViewMyChain is the UK’s only data-driven chain management tool, enabling key stakeholders within a property transaction; including estate agents, conveyancers, and mortgage brokers to stay up to date and effectively manage their chains. It provides full visibility of the chain, complete with automatic chain building and data-led milestone updates from across the home buying and selling process. It provides for greater efficiency, faster completions, and enables users to achieve lower fall-through rates. For further information, please visit: https://viewmychain.com


Blackfinch Energy’s Horsey Levels Solar Farm in ‘accelerated’ solar grid connection

Blackfinch Energy, part of Blackfinch Group, is announcing the official energisation of its Horsey Levels Solar Farm in Somerset, adding to the UK’s renewable energy efforts. The project, developed and constructed by Enviromena, is historic as it is the first in the country to benefit from the National Grid’s Technical Limits acceleration program, which aims to streamline the integration of renewable energy into the national grid.

The connection, facilitated by the National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED) following the government’s acceleration program, enables Horsey Levels solar farm to generate 27,550MWh of electricity annually, powering over 10,000 homes and significantly reduce CO2 emissions by more than 5,000 tonnes annually. It also marks a shift towards improved development and connection processes for renewable projects, setting a precedent for future initiatives.

The collaboration between Blackfinch and Enviromena, supported by land provided by the Somerset Council and assisted by NGED, highlights the effective public-private partnerships driving the UK’s energy transition. Such cooperative efforts are crucial for reaching national renewable energy and carbon reduction targets.

In line with the announcements in the Spring Budget 2024, this project supports the national effort to boost green industries and renewable energy sources. The budget includes significant investment and policy measures designed to speed up the development and integration of renewable energy projects similar to Horsey Levels across the country, reflecting the pivotal role government initiatives play in meeting the UK’s ambitious environmental and energy security objectives.

Blackfinch Group, a leading specialist investment manager, invests to achieve long term, positive, sustainable outcomes as a custodian of retail investor capital. This aligns with macro-economic trends towards demand for improved energy security through diversified clean energy sources and supports the UK’s strategy to decrease its carbon footprint.

“We’re proud to bring the Horsey Levels Solar Farm into operation, a landmark project that enhances our diverse renewable energy portfolio and furthers our commitment to sustainable investment,” said Alan Gorman, Investment Director at Blackfinch Energy. “This project showcases our ability to adapt and thrive within the UK’s evolving energy policies, allowing our investors to see how their capital can be used to contribute to the nation’s shift towards more sustainable energy sources.”

Enviromena CEO Chris Marsh said: “We are delighted to energise the first accelerated project as part of National Grid’s reforms to help bring forward the connection dates of renewable energy projects. Following the notification of the delay of this important project, our team has worked closely with the National Grid Electricity Distribution and ESO in order to find solutions to help accelerate this project and other similarly delayed projects.”

“We have been supported from the outset by the project owner, Blackfinch Energy. In addition, we have worked closely with Somerset Council to agree rights to connect the project on council-owned land.”

Steve Cross, Southwest Operations Director for National Grid Electricity Distribution, said: “This is an important milestone in the work we are doing to enable grid connections to help decarbonise the communities we serve. We are investing £500 million over the next five years to ensure electricity generation customers can connect to our network and we are working closely with industry,

Ofgem and government to streamline the process and accelerate connection times for active projects. Horsey Levels is the first of many renewable projects to benefit from this concerted and co-ordinated approach and will undoubtedly make a valuable contribution to the South West’s pursuit of net zero targets.”

 

Andrew Stanton Executive Editor – moving property and proptech forward. PropTech-X

Andrew Stanton

CEO & Founder Proptech-PR. Proptech Real Estate Influencer, Executive Editor of Estate Agent Networking. Leading PR consultancy in Proptech & Real Estate.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Almost one in five first-time buyers seeking max 60% LTV mortgages

Almost one in three (31%) first-time buyers are opting for 90% LTV mortgages, and a further 10% are looking at 95% LTV options. This hints at many first-time buyers relying on 5-10% deposits. This translates to £13,650 to £27,300 at the average UK house price of £272,995 [source]. Almost one in five (17%) first-time buyers…
Read More
Breaking News

Property values bounce back in October

The latest Halifax Property Index shows that: – House prices rose by +0.6% in October vs a fall of -0.3% in September Fourth time in last five months that the average price has increased Average property price now £299,862, edging up to a new record high Annual rate of growth rises to +1.9% (up from…
Read More
Breaking News

UK house prices rise at fastest pace since January

House prices rose by +0.6% in October vs a fall of -0.3% in September Fourth time in last five months that the average price has increased Average property price now £299,862, edging up to a new record high Annual rate of growth rises to +1.9% (up from +1.3% in September) Mortgage approvals reach highest level…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Rightmove accelerates AI product delivery to surface more potential sellers and buyers for agents

The UK’s largest property platform Rightmove is today announcing a series of AI developments for consumers and partners, to help agents reach more potential sellers, buyers and renters. There are currently 27 AI initiatives in development, as Rightmove makes AI technology central to its platform to benefit partners and home-movers. Four new developments – two…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

How to Pick the Best Option for your Business’ Broadband

Having a dependable broadband connection is crucial for any business. Whether you run a small office or a larger company, a slow or unstable connection can disrupt work, affect communication, and reduce productivity. Picking the right broadband package does not have to be complicated, but it does require careful thought about your business’s specific needs…
Read More
bank of england interest rate
Breaking News

Bank of England Hold’s Interest Rates at 4%

With the Bank of England holding Interest Rates at 4%, here are some thoughts from the Industry. Matt Smith, Rightmove’s mortgages expert: “Ahead of one of the most widely anticipated and discussed Autumn Budgets of recent times, it was unlikely the Bank would go for another interest rate cut so close to the announcement and…
Read More