Preview the Future of PropTech

March 11, 2016

The future of PropTech, will actually be the part of the future of FinTech. A number of high level technologies, have swiftly come about that will cause this transition in these opposing but similar technology industries.

Currently data and contracts are separate. Perhaps your property software merges data into pre-made templates, for example to produce a tenancy agreement, this is not what I mean.

Imagine a digital agreement that is not only binding like the real-life counterpart, but it is also its own enforcer of those terms.

For example a pre-sales agreement made between the Vendor and a Purchaser of a property. Within this agreement, it states both parties to pay a deposit to an Estate Agent, and on completion of the sale, the deposits returned.

Currently this type of agreement requires a manual enforcer and trust in the Estate Agent’s processes.

This will change with Blockchain technology, a decentralized verifiable ledger that can handle things like currencies, assets and rules. A good example is Ethereum, a basic blockchain level coding tool, that allows programmable contracts. Allowing logic and rules to tie into real-life finances and investments, in a reliable and trust-less manner.

Now back to the example, how does a contract become self enforceable.

If we built this sales contract on a blockchain, we could store value in the Cloud. Effectively connecting say a payment API to receive the funds and a payment API to pay out the deposits. We could then link the contract to the Land Registry API, as the trusted source of the approval, which could trigger the rule to pay back the deposits.

We could go further and add time limit clauses, that if a sale is not completed by such a date, then both deposits pay out to a certain party automatically.

Understanding this, you may see that the future of PropTech will be also the future of FinTech, as we merge Assets, Money into programmable agreements.

Do you agree?

What else do you think the future of PropTech will hold?

You May Also Enjoy

Estate Agent Talk

Buying Alone? What Solo Buyers Need to Know Before Making an Offer on a House

Figures show that solo buyers accounted for 36.9% of Barclays’ mortgage completions in June 2026, as more people chose to step onto the property ladder without a partner beside them. Choosing independence over waiting for a joint purchase has doubled over the last 50+ years, with solo first-time buyers doubling from 15% before 1980 to…
Read More →
Estate Agent Talk

How to Make a New-Build Living Room Feel Less Like a Show Home

An empty new-build living room can be surprisingly difficult to furnish. The walls are freshly painted, the sockets are in place, and there is nothing to remove before decorating begins. Yet once the sofa arrives, the room can still feel unsettled: too bare in some places, awkwardly crowded in others. The answer rarely involves buying…
Read More →
Breaking News

Mortgage Borrowing Dip

Key points: Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals decreased to £3.9 billion in September, from £4.2 billion in August, below the previous 6-month average of £4.9 billion. Net mortgage approvals for house purchases decreased to 53,400 in September, below an average of around 58,800 over the previous 6-months. Approvals for remortgaging increased to 42,600…
Read More →
Breaking News

Autumn Budget 2026: Property industry reaction

Following today’s Autumn Budget, reaction from property industry experts on six key areas for the property market. First-time buyer support: The £4.7bn Your First Home equity loan scheme, supporting 70,000 buyers, alongside the introduction of a new First Time Buyer ISA. Inflation and borrowing costs: The extension of the fuel duty freeze, household energy support…
Read More →
Breaking News

Can you legally BAN Halloween Trick or Treaters?

People who dread the annual knock of trick-or-treaters may have more power to keep Halloween callers away than they realise. As millions of children prepare to take to the streets on October 31, a property law expert has explained what homeowners can do if they do not want strangers walking up their path or knocking…
Read More →
Estate Agent Talk

What the sector need to do differently to give first time buyers a chance

By Peter Hawley, Director, SOWN (part of LRG) The mortgage and property sector needs to stop assuming that younger buyers are either ready to buy outright or not ready at all. For many, the reality is somewhere in between. They may have stable employment, a deposit and a strong desire to own, but still find…
Read More →