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

Breaking News

One in five landlords don’t trust letting agents

The latest research by The Letting Partnership has found that almost one in five landlords do not trust letting agents to correctly handle rental income and tenancy deposits, whilst a lack of visibility around compliance standards is preventing many agents from building greater confidence with their clients. The Letting Partnership surveyed 890 landlords across England…
Read More
Breaking News

Rental price and average salary tracker – May 2026

Scottish Rent Surge Drives Regional Growth as Affordability Pressures Persist Across UK Scotland recorded the strongest monthly rental growth of any UK region, with average rents rising from £1,167 in April to £1,257 in May (+7.7%), pushing the typical salary required to secure a home to £37,710. London average monthly costs increased from £2,259 to…
Read More
Letting Agent Talk

Rental yields climb across London

Tower Hamlets and Newham deliver strongest buy-to-let returns as rental yields climb across London   The latest research from London lettings and estate agent, Benham and Reeves, reveals that Tower Hamlets and Newham currently offer the strongest rental yields for buy-to-let landlords, having also recorded the largest annual increases in rental yield across all London…
Read More
Overseas Property

World Cup host cities have seen house prices climb by 44%

World Cup host cities have seen house prices climb by 44% since 2026 tournament announcement   The latest analysis from Enness Global has revealed that property values across the cities selected to host matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup have increased by an average of 44% since the tournament was awarded in 2018, highlighting…
Read More
Estate Agents should not all look the same
Estate Agent Talk

Nearly Third of Homebuyers Choose Conveyancer Recommended by Estate Agent

New research from Lyons Bowe Solicitors has revealed that nearly a third of homebuyers choose a conveyancer recommended by their estate agent, while only 40% compare multiple firms before making a decision. The findings come at a challenging time for the UK housing market. According to the latest Zoopla House Price Index, annual homebuyer demand…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

FCA proposals to boost mortgages supply for underserved markets

Comments from Julian Sampson, Partner and Head of Lending Department at TWM Solicitors, a leading commercial law firm.   The FCA is announcing mortgage rule changes that should improve the supply of mortgages to underserved markets such as the self-employed, the elderly and borrowers with weak credit histories. Julian Sampson says, “There are still significant parts…
Read More