BREAKING PROPERTY NEWS – 04/05/2022

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

 

NAPB: The Cost of Living Squeeze Is Set to Create a “Crisis” for Those Looking to Rent a Home.

The National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB) say soaring numbers of landlords are looking to sell homes as they seek to benefit from the continued surge in house-prices.

They say many are also looking to quit the rental sector due to sweeping new Government plans seeking to crackdown on their powers.

Last week Ministers vowed to press ahead with moves to end  “no fault eviction” notices which means a property owner does not need to give a reason for ending a tenant’s contract.

According to Shelter, 270,000 people have been served with such notices over the past three years in a situation they branded “appalling”.

However the NAPB say although it is vital tenants’ receive better protection the timing of the measure risked creating turmoil for people to look to find a rental property.

Spokesman Jonathan Rolande said: “The cost of living squeeze coupled with house price rises is leading to a rising number of landlords now quitting the market.  Our association has seen a sharp rise in the number of landlords now looking to sell, because very often they can get a better price for selling an empty property, than by letting it.

“It’s very important tenants renting a property have protection in place, but by imposing sweeping new powers at this juncture the Government also runs the risk of driving out large swathes of landlords in one go.

“The net impact will mean less and less affordable homes for people to rent. Rental prices in all parts of the UK are already sky high. But we are now facing a crisis for those looking to enter the rental market during the second half of this year.”

The average annual UK rental growth has reached a 13 year high, with rents increasing by 8.3 per cent at the end of 2021, new research recently revealed.

Renters now pay on average £969 per month – which is £62 more than at the start of the pandemic according to Zoopla.

As the cost of living crisis continues to squeeze households, the average rent now accounts for 37 per cent of gross income for a single earner, up from 34 per cent during most of 2021.

However, this brings the figure broadly back in line with the longer term average of 36 per cent as rental growth rises in line with wage growth.

Meanwhile, the overall increase in rents over the last five years totals 12 per cent, thanks to the decline in rents seen in some areas during the pandemic.

 

PRESS RELEASE: AI start-up Propflo secures £180k from strategic investors

Bristol, April. 29th, 2022. Bristol-based start-up Propflo has announced that it has successfully closed its pre-seed funding round of £180k from strategic investors to grow its property transparency platform.

The platform, which includes an ‘Experian-like’ proprietary property score that homeowners can add context to, as well as sustainability insights and support to prepare sellers and buyers, has generated significant interest amongst property professionals, especially mortgage intermediaries. The main objective of this funding round was to engage strategic investors with relevant experience to accelerate growth.

The round was led by Ying Tan, a successful founder and angel investor. After becoming one of the youngest VPs at Goldman Sachs, Ying created a substantial property portfolio before founding Dynamo in February 2006; he exited in May 2021 having grown the company to become one of the leading and largest mortgage brokers in the UK. Since his exit, he has become the non-executive chairman of Knowledge Bank, a multi-award-winning mortgage criteria search system.

Ying will join the board as a non-executive director to help grow and provide strategic direction, he will also be joined by his trusted colleague Penny Desborough who has been instrumental in many of his previous success stories. Active angel investor Robin Balen who has invested in successful proptech start-ups previously is also part of the round.

Ying Tan, Non-executive director:“Propflo is a super exciting opportunity for me. When I exited my business I wanted to back and empower the next generation of entrepreneurs. Luke already has an excellent proven track record, and has all the amazing attributes that I look for in founders. Propflo is a revolutionary product which has ambitious plans to disrupt the marketplace, to create a better property buying experience. This makes it incredibly exciting for me and compliments my other recent investments. I am delighted to be part of its next chapter of growth and the exciting journey that lies ahead.”

Luke Loveridge, Founder and CEO: “I really admire what Ying has accomplished in the mortgage intermediary sector, and his knowledge of both the mortgage and property markets will be a huge asset to Propflo. When discussing the opportunity with him I felt that our values aligned and we could work very well together to build a great business. I’m also delighted that Robin has also participated in the round; his advice in previous proptech ventures proved invaluable.”

Daniel Moyo, Co-Founder and Chief Data Scientist: “We’ve recently expanded our advisory board with Dr Mike Tipping who is a world leader in AI, he joined Verona Frankish formerly part of the leadership team at Mortgage Advice Bureau and current CEO at online estate agents Yopa.  Adding the market-specific and commercial experience of Ying and Robin to the business creates an even stronger best in class well-balanced team.”

About Propflo

Propflo is a property transaction transparency and decision support platform powered by machine learning (a form of artificial intelligence). It was founded by successful proptech entrepreneur Luke Loveridge and geospatial and risk data scientist Dr Daniel Moyo. The business has a strong advisory team including the CEO of Yopa and ex-Purplebricks MD, Verona Frankish, and Dr Mike Tipping – a world-leading AI expert.

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

UK monthly property transactions for May 2025

Headline statistics from the latest transactions data include: the provisional seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of UK residential transactions in May 2025 is 81,470, 12% lower than May 2024 and 25% higher than April 2025 the provisional non-seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of UK residential transactions in May 2025 is 80,530, 13% lower than May 2024 and…
Read More
Breaking News

Construction Skills Mission Board (CSMB) shows the Government has a plan

The Construction Skills Mission Board (CSMB) held its first board meeting today (26 June 2025), where it set out a roadmap for recruiting 100,000 more construction workers a year by the end of Parliament. Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said: “The Construction Skills Mission Board (CSMB) is a recognition…
Read More
Paint Stripper Tools
Estate Agent Talk

5 Strategies to Optimise Your Warehouse for Real Estate

The term fixer-upper can mean many things, from ‘slap some paint on the walls and it looks brand new’ to ‘will this building collapse if we open the front door?’ Indeed, in the dicey world of commercial property acquisition, each warehouse you buy will probably fall into both camps. Thinking about the viability of warehouses…
Read More
Breaking News

HMOs sell for up to 50% above market average

New research from Excellion Capital, the boutique debt advisory and investment firm, reveals that HMOs sell for as much as 50% above the average house price, further increasing their investment potential after it was revealed that HMOs also create rental yields of up to 12.5%. After previous research from Excellion Capital recently showed that the…
Read More
Breaking News

UK buyers struggle while 50,000 homes sit empty

As the UK housing crisis deepens, new analysis by Open Property Group exposes a worrying surge in so-called “zombie homes”- properties that sit unoccupied and deteriorating while millions struggle to access affordable housing. Key insights: 50,000+ long-term vacant homes in England alone 23,000+ of these have been empty for more than two years Estimated £13.6…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 26/06/25

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   The UK is Europe’s second most distressed market despite headline GDP growth Retail and Consumers Goods has emerged as the most distressed sector in Europe, with distress levels now the highest since the global financial crisis, according to the latest Weil European Distress Index (WEDI). The…
Read More