Feb

TECH FIRST: Lettings firm says it can spot when rented homes are being sub-let

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London hybrid lettings agency Home Made tells LandlordZONE it gently warns tenants tha, if they try and sub-let their home they will be found out.

A hybrid lettings agency in London has
developed software which enables the company to spot when tenants are illegally
sub-letting its landlords’ properties.

Home Made, which was founded three years ago
and is a unique mix of part-tech, part-traditional lettings agency, says more
and more of its landlords are worried about illegal sub-letting.

“I can’t say exactly how it works because
that’s commercially sensitive, but it’s part of our tenancy and property
management platform that we offer landlords,” says founder Asaf Navot.

“But we tell tenants that the property is being
monitored so they’re not tempted to sub-let but reassure them that we are not
spying on them!”.

LandlordZONE has spoken to several tech experts
who say systems like this are likely to match a rental property’s address to
all the main short and medium-let platforms such as Airbnb, Spotahome, HomeAway
and Booking.com and then flag up if it’s featured on them.

“We use our tech hand-in-hand with almost
forensic tenant referencing in order to filter out potential professional
sub-letters, who are a growing problem in the higher end of the London lettings
market.”

Navot says career sub-letters are using more
and more sophisticated methods to get around referencing including buying fake
web addresses to set up bogus businesses who they then claim to work for.

Home Made is unusual because it offers a
traditional lettings service for substantially less than its high street
competitors, based out of a single office near Waterloo, but covers all areas
of London within Zone 6 of its public transport network.

The company offers accompanied viewings and
also a common tech platform that its staff, landlords and tenants communicate
and transact on.Visit Home
Made.

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