Knight Frank and geospatial technology firm Kamma have announced a tech partnership agreement, designed to support the agency and its compliance efforts in the Private Rented Sector (PRS).

The growth of discretionary licensing schemes across the 408 local authorities in the UK has created a complex web of rules and regulations that landlords and agents have to follow. Last year, Kamma reported that as a result of the increased enforcement, the total fines for letting agents and landlords in the Greater London area have increased by more than £1m since December last year.

As well as increased enforcement, agents are also being fined larger amounts. Last year in November the average fine for letting agents was £4,490, a year later Kamma has reported an increase of around 5%, taking the average agent fine to £4,695. Complying with licensing regulations is an ongoing burden that agents must deal with to avoid fines. This partnership marks a landmark step forward in Kamma’s ambition to solve property licensing for all letting agents, removing complexity, and freeing up time to focus on core business.

In 2023, Knights Frank agents will benefit from access to Kamma’s services including instant property licensing check. In addition to receiving email alerts on new and ever-changing legislation related to residential lettings, residential sales, Covid-19 and insurance, users in England and Wales will also be able to receive live updates about any changes to licensing regulations affecting their property portfolio. Before the integration goes live, Kamma will support Knight Frank with more high level overviews and compliance sweeps.

This partnership has come about to remove complexity from letting agents’ and property professionals’ daily lives and to provide their business with new ways to stand out from the competition.

The partnership will allow the Knight Frank to continue to build out its internal compliance system with the support of Kamma’s data and expertise.

Kamma’s CEO Orla Shields explained: “We are excited to announce this fantastic partnership with Knight Frank which will enable their users to stay compliant with changing licensing regulations much more easily and free themselves up to focus on their core business practices.”

Beverley Kennard, head of lettings operations at Knight Frank, added: “We look forward to working with Kamma to help our clients navigate the complex licensing schemes currently in place, alongside exploring further efficiencies and time savings for our teams.”