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

Home and Living

Choosing the Perfect Wooden Fence for Your Backyard

Looking to transform your backyard with a beautiful wooden fence? You’re not alone. Many homeowners in Dane County find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer variety of wooden fence options available today. As a wood fence company in Dane County, Solid Fence Co. has helped countless property owners navigate these choices to find the perfect backyard…
Read More
Love or Hate Rightmove
Breaking News

Rightmove’s weekly mortgage tracker

Average rates for 2-year and 5-year fixed-rate mortgages Term Average rate Weekly change Yearly change 2-year fixed 4.61% -0.02% -0.80% 5-year fixed 4.59% -0.01% -0.42% Lowest rates for 2-year and 5-year fixed-rate mortgages Term Lowest rate Weekly change Yearly change 2-year fixed 3.72% +0.00% -1.03% 5-year fixed 3.78% +0.00% -0.56% Average fixed-term mortgage rates for…
Read More
Breaking News

Spotahome Bags €5 Million to Grow Its Game-Changing Rental Platform

You’ve just landed a new job in Berlin. Exciting, right? Except now you’re stuck halfway across the world, scrolling through sketchy listings, trying to rent an apartment you’ve never seen from someone you don’t trust. It’s stressful, confusing, and, honestly, pretty common. That’s the exact problem Spotahome was built to solve, and they’ve just raised…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Increase in US buyers enquiring about homes for sale in UK

New analysis shows an increasing number of people from the United States have been enquiring about homes for sale in the UK since the start of the year: There’s been an 19% increase in enquiries from the US to the UK compared to last year, and the highest number since 2017 The majority (47%) of…
Read More
Breaking News

Appropriate rental homes disproportionate to growing number of older renters

Disabled and older renters in the UK’s Private Rented Sector face significant challenges finding and accessing suitable accommodation, says the industry body. Propertymark, the leading professional body for estate and letting agents, has highlighted an increasing concern in the private rented sector as the disparity in bungalows available to rent impacts the growing number of…
Read More
Breaking News

Mortgage arrears and possessions Q1 2025

UK Finance today releases its latest mortgage arrears and possessions data for Q1 2025, while highlighting continuing lender support for any customers facing financial difficulty. Key information: The number of homeowner mortgages in arrears fell by two per cent in Q1 2025 compared to the previous quarter. The number of buy-to-let (BTL) mortgages in arrears…
Read More