BREAKING PROPERTY NEWS – 27/04/2022
Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.
PRESS RELEASE: Spike Global and Utopi join forces to help residents go green
Spike Global, the leading property management and resident engagement software provider, is pleased to announce that it has formed a strategic partnership with IoT and Data Integration SaaS provider Utopi to increase visibility and access to building performance data.
With the demand for strong ESG performance, coupled with a greater focus on creating more sustainable buildings, developers are increasingly seeking ways to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.
At the moment there is a lack of transparency when it comes to understanding how a building is performing, which makes it difficult to establish a baseline or monitor sustainability improvements. This new partnership will put key information into the hands of those with the power to make sustainable changes – whether that’s building managers or tenants themselves.
Through the use of specialist smart devices and API integrations, some of which were developed in-house, Utopi is able to collect live and actionable data from managed residential accommodation. This data is then available real-time via the UtopiConnect software platform, which can be integrated with other cloud-based products such as Spike Global’s market-leading resident engagement portal, Spike Living.
By partnering with Utopi, Spike’s clients will have the opportunity to understand their building’s performance and identify areas for improvement. In addition, the information can empower individual residents living in that development to reduce their carbon footprint and energy consumption by prompting them to reduce their impact, and enabling them to compare their performance with other anonymised residents within their building.
Developers and operators will also be able to use this data to set targets for reduction in consumption and spot outliers and poor performing residents, allowing them to offer advice and support. This leads to vast improvements in ESG scoring, and could also support the introduction of fair usage policies to counter ever-increasing energy costs.
Speaking of the partnership, Utopi’s Co-Founder & CMO, Ben Roberts, commented: “We have been very keen to get the building data we collect into the hands of the residents for a while, we know it has a major impact on a building’s sustainability performance, as the residents are the ones in control of their consumption. Partnering with Spike was a no-brainer and the integration of the two platforms was seamless. We are really looking forward to inspiring communities to take action against the climate crisis.”
Speaking of the partnership, Spike Global’s CEO, Jeremy Heath-Smith, commented: “Our clients are increasingly concerned about the climate emergency and not only need to understand their building’s performance but want to use that information to actively engage and encourage residents to reduce their CO2 output and energy consumption. By partnering with Utopi, we will be able to make this information readily available via our Spike Living portal, encouraging everyone to make a positive change.”
Spike Global will be exhibiting at this year’s UKAA BTR Expo being held on 28 April at the London Design Centre, where attendees will be able to learn more about the new partnership with Utopi.
PRESS RELEASE: Landlords slam Shelter scaremongering
RESPONDING to research published by Shelter on repossessions in the private rented sector, Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said:
“Shelter needs to stop its campaign of scaremongering. The vast majority of landlords do not spend their time plotting ways to get rid of their tenants for no reason.
“Official data shows that fewer than 10 per cent of tenants who move do so because they are asked to by their landlord or letting agent. Likewise, the number of cases coming to court as a result of Section 21 notices has been falling since 2015.
“The Government has committed to abolishing Section 21 possessions, but this has got to be replaced by a system that is both fair and workable for both tenants and landlords. Simply getting rid of Section 21 on its own would, for example, make it all but impossible to take action against anti-social tenants who blight the lives of neighbours and fellow tenants.
“The NRLA has published its detailed plans for a new system that strikes the right balance. We urge Shelter to work constructively with us on these.”
Notes:
- The most recently available data in the English Housing Survey, 2019 to 2020 private rented sector report shows that among their private renters who had seen their tenancy end over the previous year, 8.1% said it was because they were asked to leave by their landlord or letting agent. See annex table 3.7 at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1000057/EHS_19-20_PRS_Ch_3_tables.ods.
- The Ministry of Justice’s Mortgage and Landlord Possession statistics: October to December 2021 can be accessed at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1053738/Mortgage_and_Landlord_Possession_Tables_Q4_Oct_to_Dec_2021.ods. Table 7 notes shows that across England and Wales:
- Between 2019 and 2021 the number of possession claims brought to court using the accelerated procedure (section 21) fell by 55.9% from 19,042 in 2019 to 8,402 in 2021.
- Between 2015 and 2019 the number of possession claims brought to court using the accelerated procedure (section 21) fell by 50.4% from 38,402 in 2015 19,042 in 2019
- The NRLA’s proposals for a new system to replace Section 21 repossessions can be accessed at: https://www.nrla.org.uk/download?document=1333.
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