London is fast developing as a worldwide centre for innovation in property technology.

The potent mix of a well-developed start-up ecosystem and a cultural fascination for all things property deserves some attention and I’ll do my best to keep you abreast of developments.

Home improvement and maintenance

Two businesses are tackling the home improvement and property maintenance space.

Mcado, a funded start-up which has a consumer brand called Opun has launched across Wiltshire, Surrey and Kent. Mcado is led by former Tesco executive Rod Brown and his business partner John Cushing.

More recently, 1Roof has also launched. These business models could have implications for property managers and letting agents in the future.

Property finance

With so much focus on property crowdfunding models, a new start-up called Trussle has remained under the radar.

However, this new website bills Trussle as “the simpler way to get a mortgage”.

Trussle plans to use technology to ease the customer journey when applying for a mortgage. Shareholders are Jonathan Galore, former CTO of Wonga and investor in eMoov and Ishaan Mahli, former entrepreneur-in-residence at Playfair Capital.

I’m also hearing rumours of an existing mortgage brokerage which currently sells through estate agents and which have made significant investments into a technology proposition.

I’ll keep you up to date on that one as and when there are any developments.

Gazumping and transaction speed

Gazumping and slow transaction times have long been complaints amongst consumers – and often agents. Two start-ups are tackling this with technology, in very different ways.

ClickToPurchaseProperty is a B2B auction technology business which offers their product as a white label service to agents, enabling them to sell property by private treaty, best offers or using real time, web-based auctions.

Each transaction sees immediate exchange of contracts. CTPP claim to have sold over £100m of property in 100+ transactions. It is led by Neil Singer, a commercial agent based in London.

Gazeal takes a different approach. Rather than an auction format, the property’s title is put into escrow and any title defects are underwritten by an insurance product.

Gazeal has recently raised a seed investment and plans to roll out to developers first. The founders are Duncan Samuel, formerly of Convex Law and John Halpin, a commercial lawyer.

Other news

Rialto, a member of the Pi Labs cohort, is a platform for commercial real estate landlords to drive leasing activities and monitor portfolio performance in real time. The business has joined Seedcamp which is one of the largest and most successful accelerators in Europe.

There is also rumour in Tech City of further investments into the commercial property space, in particular by one serial property-technology entrepreneur, providing publishing tools to agents. Watch this space.

Australian start-up Orep has set up shop in Tech City this month. Orep allows agents and consumers to have their property photos professionally retouched in 24 hours using a smartphone app.

Like any burgeoning sector, online agents are beginning to attract investment in their supply chain. ShopForAnAgent is an online and high street estate agents comparison site. Founder is ex-agent Nick Biring, who says that ShopForAnAgent is the simple and effective way for agents to reach a wider range of vendors and landlords in their area.

Speaking of Pi Labs, the first demo day – where the start-ups pitch for investment to a gathering of angels – is scheduled for this Friday. This will be the acid test for the model: if the businesses don’t get funded will any others want to apply for future cohorts?

Future PropTech #2

Last Friday was the second event in this series, hosted at Rainmaking Loft in London.

Bethan Jenkins presented CrowdLords, a crowd funding site that aims to help the UK move from “a home owning democracy to a property owning democracy.”

Russell Quirk, eMoov CEO, spoke on the importance of customer service in technology businesses, while Hannes Buhrmann, head of innovation at Rightmove, walked the audience through a lifecycle of how a new product is taken from idea to reality at the company.

Pitches were also given by four start-ups and one business seeking feedback on whether its product would appeal to property businesses.

Renovate Me: founder Sarah Pugh presented her start-up, a marketplace for renovation projects.

Chiphall Group: Will Burton spoke about a new 3D scanning tool originally developed for the defence industry, which he thought could help agents reduce costs on photography.

BluQrux: Louise Nickerson presented FixSmart, a software solution designed to assists in management and maintenance of properties, ultimately reducing voids.

Step Ladder.net: Purdey Collier launched the concept of “co-buying”, enabling people who can’t afford to buy on their own to club together.

* Eddie Holmes is founder of Launch22, an incubator specialising in PropTech