Breaking Property News – 02/04/24
Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.
Coadjute to transform UK property market with Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, NatWest and Rightmove joining forces in strategic investment round.
Full disclosure in my day job at Proptech-PR ‘A consultancy for Proptech founders’ Coadjute are one of my senior clients, and we have been fierce advocates of their service for some years. So I am immensley proud to announce the following and entreat anyone who has not engaged with Coadjute to do so.
Dan Salmons CEO, John Reynolds, Sanj Bulsara, Dominique Summers, Adam Laws and David Bradford and the rest of the Coadjute team are building the future of the property industry and you need to join them. And the delivery of the digital transformation of real estate via a property portal and banking network is a brilliant strategic alliance to scale this iniative moving forward – a big win for all stakeholders.
Press Release – LONDON: 02 April 2024: Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, NatWest, and Rightmove have announced today a strategic investment in Coadjute, the London-based property technology business. This is the first time that the UK’s three largest mortgage providers have come together to fund a PropTech.
Lloyds Banking Group, as lead investment partner, has invested £3 million as part of a £10 million funding round to support Coadjute’s long-term ambition to revolutionise the UK housing market and offer home buyers a one-stop shop for buying a home. This latest round brings the cumulative investment in Coadjute to £23 million since being founded in 2018.
Rightmove analysis shows that it takes an average of five and a half months from a seller accepting an offer until the transaction completes. This is due largely to disconnected parties, manual processes, and closed data.
Coadjute is on a mission to transform this process. Coadjute brings estate agents, conveyancers, mortgage lenders, buyers and sellers together onto a single network where all parties are verified, and data can be shared securely in a standardised way. This means that important information, from deeds, to digital identity, to financial transactions, can all be exchanged quickly and securely regardless of the system the party involved uses.
The funding will be used to power Coadjute’s national roll-out and expand the scope of the network to include mortgage brokers and lenders. The partnership follows Coadjute’s recent successful collaboration with the Bank of England, HM Land Registry, and the Bank of International Settlements on Project Meridian, to streamline and digitise the property settlement process.
Dan Salmons, CEO of Coadjute, said: “We’re delighted that the Coadjute network is now being backed by the biggest players in the UK property market, enabling us to further expand our offering and roll out to more home movers and the professionals that serve them. Together with the estate agents, conveyancers and brokers joining the network, we hope to transform the experience of moving home in the UK, making it quicker, easier and safer for everyone in the future”
Esther Dijkstra, Managing Director of Intermediaries, Lloyds Banking Group said: “As the UK’s largest mortgage lender we know buying a home is incredibly rewarding, but it can also be stressful and complicated, particularly if it’s the first time you’ve bought a home. To play our part in making things as easy as possible for home buyers, we’ve invested £3 million in Coadjute, who are transforming the house buying process by developing technology which brings everyone involved together securely, so homes can change hands smoothly and quickly and people can start enjoying their new home as soon as possible.”
Henry Jordan, Nationwide’s Director of Home, said: “Buying a home is one of the most complex and stressful things that people will do in their lifetime. The homebuying process needs streamlining into a single, integrated journey for the benefit of consumers and industry participants alike. We’re investing in Coadjute because we believe its technology has the potential to achieve this and be a game changer for the property industry.”
Miguel Sard, Managing Director, One Bank Mortgages at NatWest said: “As a key supporter of the UK housing market, we’re pleased to be supporting Coadjute and delivering clear, practical benefits for homebuyers by making buying and selling homes easier for all parties. We’re continuing to look at innovative ways that we can make it faster and more straightforward for people to own a home.”
Johan Svanstrom, CEO at Rightmove, said: “We see huge potential to digitise and improve the experience of moving home for consumers. We believe Coadjute’s secure and data-driven technology solution can meaningfully remove some of the friction and frustration that lengthy property transactions bring. For Rightmove this is also an investment into the potential of a more efficient industry, and to support our agent customers’ further business success. We look forward to working with Coadjute and partners on an exciting and digitally driven home moving process.”
The Guild of Property Professionals says they are cautiously optimistic about strength of the housing market
Iain McKenzie, CEO of The Guild of Property Professionals, comments: “The year is now in full swing, and so too is the property market. While there has been a slight fall in house prices compared to last month, we are now seeing a return to healthy levels on an annual basis, which will be welcome news to sellers.
“There is cautious optimism that the industry will see more activity this year, following the latest property sales data which showed a month-on-month rise. The outlook is still positive as we enter the spring, which is usually a busy season for estate agents.
“If you are looking to sell your house in the current climate, it is still important to price wisely if you want to attract attention. Your chosen estate agent should be giving you up-to-date valuations based on similar properties in your area.
“Buyers are well-informed of their advantageous negotiating position, so don’t be surprised if they expect some flexibility on pricing.
“However, as prices stabilise and even grow in some parts of the country, we expect to see the demand grow too, especially with more attractive mortgage products now being offered.”
Andrew Stanton Executive Editor – moving property and proptech forward. PropTech-X
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