WEEKLY NEWS ROUNDUP – 13/08/2021

Estate Agent Networking Breaking News

A roundup of the week’s top property and proptech news stories in partnership with Proptech-X

 

  1. Checkboard launches today, building trust one check at a time
  2. MyIdentity trust scheme launches to provide efficient digital identity verification
  3. Is mortgage lending about to enter a period of reflection?
  4. Trading Standards back ViewRabbit’s “optional fees”
  5. Propertymark CEO Nathan Emerson thinks proptech is here to stay

 

Checkboard launches today, building trust one check at a time

Today is the official launch of Checkboard, a next-gen KYC and finance checking platform which services tenants and buyers at lightning speed.

James Owusu, founder and CEO of Checkboard, said: “We are building trust one check at a time. The entire system where tenants and buyers have to prove who they are and their financial background multiple times is not broken, it is just slow and inefficient and has gaps.

With tenants and buyers eager to move forward, Checkboard is experiencing a gravitational pull towards its solution, giving users the power to do self-serve checking at pace.

Checkboard has enjoyed a meteoric rise and stellar backing. In March it announced over £620,000 of investment. One of the investors, Edwin Appiah of Cornerstone Partners, saw the merit of Checkboard: “Inefficiencies in the application process provide a real opportunity to innovate and digitise customer onboarding practices.”

Checkboard is looking to align itself with all of the agency CRMs so that adoption will be as quick and painless as the user experience. With 15 integrations due to be completed by the end of August, estate agents will be able to easily pull data directly from their CRM systems.

Read the Checkboard press release in full

James also partook in an episode of Property & Wine where he told us about himself and one of his business ventures.


MyIdentity trust scheme launches to provide efficient digital identity verification

A digital identity trust scheme, called MyIdentity, is set to become the central hub for consumers, to help them prove who they are, once, in a more secure digital way. Under the scheme, home buyers and sellers should no longer be repeatedly asked to provide their identity details to all the parties involved in the chain of transactions.

With my other hat on, as a proptech real estate analyst and consultant, I must admit a personal involvement in this. However, despite my bias, it’s widely regarded that there is a fundamental need to have a single defining truth when it comes to identity checking.

So, when a person sells, buys, or rents, they can be digitally identified just once and once only, saving time and money. What’s also important is that this identity is trusted by all stakeholders in the process, to avoid needless bottlenecks.

Having been involved in the mix at the Government level, where evidence has been drawn from, I really feel that we are on the edge of a breakthrough. Digital will soon be seen as an empowering force, leading to quicker completions and more control over how consumers share their identity details…and who they share their identity details with.

Estate agents, licensed conveyancers, solicitors, and mortgage intermediaries operating in Battersea, Chiswick, Clapham, Putney, Wimbledon, Richmond, Kew, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Harrogate, and York are to be the first to benefit this year from trials of MyIdentity, making home buying and selling a quicker and more secure digital process.

Housing Minister RT Hon Christopher Pincher MP said: “It is good to see the progress being made on rolling out this scheme. We know that buyers and sellers are confused and frustrated by the current process where they have their identity checked multiple times. A single check which can be relied upon by multiple parties will help us to deliver a modernised and better home buying experience.”

Stuart Young, director of Etive, the company delivering the trust scheme, said: “We are really pleased that the residential property industry has come together on this to work and improve such an important aspect of the home buying and selling process.”

Read the MyIdentity press release in full

 

Is mortgage lending about to enter a period of reflection?

During the pandemic, all lenders battened down the hatches and required borrowers to comply with more stringent criteria. Bigger deposits were required and people who took mortgage holidays or accepted Government-backed pandemic finances found it impossible to get housing finance.

Now many are asking those in the lending industry to make borrowing mortgages easier as the country comes out of lockdown and normalises.

But the Mortgage Advice Bureau, through their leading man in lending Brian Murphy, feels that a slower and more careful approach was now required.

Murphy said: “…the impact the pandemic has wreaked on the economy, particularly in terms of unemployment, has not been as severe as most were forecasting. Once the last of the government support measures have ended, there will no doubt need to be a period of reflection while lenders assess the consequences before normalising criteria to pre-pandemic levels.”

With the Bank of England base rate at 0.1% and mortgage products launching at less than 1%, it will be interesting to see which lenders break rank first to pander to the needs of the borrowing nation.

 

Trading Standards back ViewRabbit’s “optional fees”

Michael Riley has been receiving a lot of brickbats, mostly from the very people who stand to gain under a pay-per-viewing concept put forward by ViewRabbit.

Now, Trading Standards seems to think the concept is above board, as those wanting to view have a choice; go the free route and arrange a traditional viewing or choose to pay £30 and get a confirmed instant viewing.

It appears that there has not been a widescale canvassing of what the public want yet, but given 72,000 people a year use an online agent to market their home, it seems there may well be a lot of folks who might like the idea of paying to hop to the front of the queue, given the present scarcity of property.

This is a news story that’s going to run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run.

 

Propertymark CEO Nathan Emerson thinks proptech is here to stay

Writing in the publication Estate Agent Today, Propertymark CEO Nathan Emerson has extolled the virtues of what digital can do for the agency industry. In a very balanced piece, he says that though there is confusion as the proptech landscape is fragmented, clear verticals are opening up and maturity may well be on the way. This might well mean smaller sales teams and more tech.

In the article, Emerson states: “It is imperative for any property agent, whether lettings or sales, to keep abreast of the digital transformation revolution which is occurring at this moment in time. This will not only ensure that they are engaging with the most relevant products for the short and medium-term, but they are also in a position where they can strategically place themselves to continue to deliver and exceed client and customer demands.

“Whilst a complete end-to-end solution has not been entirely adapted on a property sale, it is still possible to not only list and remotely market property but be in a position where a potential buyer can now view full 3D interactive videos, floorplans and effectively filter out potential choices to a much more granular detail.”

Due to this, Emerson says, the viewing to sale ratio has decreased. Estate Agencies have become more efficient as a result of this shift to dynamic, small teams using “carefully integrated digital solutions”.

Andrew Stanton

CEO & Founder Proptech-PR. Proptech Real Estate Influencer, Executive Editor of Estate Agent Networking. Leading PR consultancy in Proptech & Real Estate. Want to contact me directly regarding one of my articles or maybe you'd like a chat about future articles? Email me via editor@stagingsite.estateagentnetworking.co.uk

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

A third of UK homes for sale are ‘chain-free’ reports Zoopla

Recent tax changes and incoming council tax premiums for second homes have unsettled property investors and second homeowners with some now looking to sell One week on from the Autumn budget, buyer enquiries for homes that are chain-free are 33 per cent higher compared to those not advertised as chain-free 41 per cent of two…
Read More
Love or Hate Rightmove
Breaking News

Rightmove’s weekly mortgage tracker 06/11/24

The average 5-year fixed mortgage rate is now 4.66%, down from 5.33% a year ago The average 2-year fixed mortgage rate is now 4.92%, down from 5.76% a year ago The average 85% LTV 5-year fixed mortgage rate is now 4.69%, down from 5.40% a year ago The average 60% LTV 5-year fixed mortgage rate is now 4.05%, down from 4.91% a year ago The average monthly mortgage payment on a…
Read More
Overseas Property

Top reasons to consider buying a luxury villa in Phuket Thailand

Those who have worked hard for many years are often looking for ways to invest their cash so that they can enjoy life to the max in their advancing years. Some might decide to dabble in the stock market or insurance policies to enhance their savings, while others might look to purchase something more physical…
Read More
How to add value to your home
Estate Agent Talk

5 Top Tips for Running a Business From Home

Have you ever wanted to start and run your own business from home? Although it’s an incredibly rewarding experience, it can be tough to set up and know where to start, especially if you have no business experience or background! Whether you want to run a small business, or have grand ambitions for eventual expansion,…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

The Importance of Time Management for Real Estate Investors

Time is one of the most valuable assets for real estate investors, especially when juggling multiple projects, clients, and market trends. Without a strong grip on time management, getting bogged down in tasks that don’t drive growth is easy. You see, every minute spent on admin tasks or low-value activities is a minute that could…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Transforming Your Condo into a Next-Gen Smart Home Experience

Gone are the days when we must get up to press a button on the TV to adjust the volume, use actual keys to unlock doorknobs, or turn a knob to control the air conditioning unit's thermostat. These days, all we have to do is sit pretty on our couches, let technology do its work,…
Read More