What is #PropTech and how does it work?

What is Proptech 2021

It is not some geeky language that is shared by school leavers sat up in their bedrooms sharing special digits and codes and neither is it some high tech marketing skill that goes way above your head when presented to you (well the build of it may be complicated, but how it is presented certainly isn’t).

Proptech is the change we are seeing within our industry that are making our lives easier and much more rewarding when it comes to finding new valuations and selling / renting property in the UK. There is no challenge for Estate Agents to embrace Proptech and it is in fact more a challenge for the guys behind the Proptech brands to get in front of agencies to showcase what their products and services can do.

Proptech: Breaking the industry into smaller sectors and having the ability to drive more and more of a target audience to each of them meaning that results are better, so there is a very big tick in the ROI box.” Christopher Walkey.

The internet will never catch on was once a famous saying and since that time we have adopted it to such an extent that it is more important to some than communication channels such as radio, telephone and television. In recent years we have had the explosion of social media and being one of the first within our industry to embrace it, I know that it was never really seen as a potential marketing channel in the early days for the property industry… I believe that it is no where near where it can be just yet, so much more to come and nowadays many estate agencies spend a lot of time and their budgets on the likes of Twitter and Facebook etc.

Savills and Proptech Cities? http://www.savills.co.uk/tech-cities/index.html#intro

Innovation (Proptech) we have recently seen enter our industry now automates nearly every step of the UK property buying and selling process eliminating time wasting elements and delivering more precise results by being able to understand each and every client’s needs. How consumers are interacted with such as when, on which device and in which tone, in how much detail and what language can all be defined with advancements in PropTech. We can not (yet) eliminate the need for human driven actions within the industry, but PropTech is learning very quickly how it can deliver results in helping to work alongside people (both industry and consumer) to save valuable time, efforts and money.

You just want to acquire new valuations for your portfolio and sell / rent them out as quickly a possible right? This part of Estate Agency will never change, but Proptech is now filtering into the industry and breaking it all down into parts allowing estate agents to pick and chose the best ‘components’ to help them to drive better results and market share locally.

You may not think that Proptech is actually anything to take note of yet, but London is now seen as one of the central hubs for this new section of the industry and just like those who didn’t take note of the internet or social media, it will creep up behind you and your business will embrace it at some point so just like anything in business, as per the early bird with the worm, being first at something can prove the difference to success and failure or achieving market dominance.

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

You May Also Enjoy

Home and Living

Home longevity spas tipped to become the next must-have in prime property

Longevity expert has noticed a huge influx in home spas from investors Country and Townhouse reported that wellness is expected in luxury homes Ralph Montague discusses core shifts he’s seen over the past two years Once, cinema rooms, wine cellars and home gyms were considered luxury home features. Now, the next major trend in prime…
Read More
Breaking News

Nationwide House Price Index for April 2026 – Thoughts from the Industry

House prices increased by 0.4% between March 2026 and April 2026. This was a weaker rate of monthly growth compared to the previous month (0.9%). Annual growth sat at 3% in April 2026, with this annual rate of growth increasing from 2.2% versus March 2026. The average UK house price now stands at £278,889.  …
Read More
Breaking News

House price growth remained resilient in April

UK annual house price growth picked up to 3.0% in April, from 2.2% in March House prices were up 0.4% month on month Headlines Apr-26 Mar-26 Monthly Index* 554.8 552.7 Monthly Change* 0.4% 0.9% Annual Change 3.0% 2.2% Average Price (not seasonally adjusted) £278,880 £277,186 * Seasonally adjusted figure (note that monthly % changes are…
Read More
Breaking News

Homeowners shift mortgage strategy amid economic uncertainty

Middle East conflict prompts Brits to rethink housing plans 27 per cent of homeowners report overpaying on their mortgage to get ahead of potential future interest rate rises 20 per cent of those remortgaging are looking to lock in a new rate as soon as possible in case of future volatility Barclays Mortgage data shows…
Read More
Breaking News

Today is the day your rights change: New Renters’ Rights rules now in force for tenants across England

Today marks a major change for tenants across England as the first phase of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 comes into force, significantly strengthening rights and changing how renting works in practice. From today, the long-standing system of Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions ends, meaning tenants can no longer be removed without a specific legal reason.…
Read More
Home and Living

Mould Tops List of Bathroom Red Flags For Homebuyers

Mould, Space & Water Pressure: 3 Bathroom Deal-breakers Affecting House Sales This Spring   Almost 9 in 10 (88%) Brits say at least one bathroom issue would put them off making an offer on a house.   Mould (60%), lack of space (44%), and water pressure (37%) are the top three deal-breakers, with concern intensifying…
Read More