Property innovation council to propel UK’s proptech sector
A PROPTECH innovation advisory council has been created to drive the digital transformation of the UK’s property sector.
Unveiled by Housing Minister Esther McVey, the new council will advise ministers on how to turbocharge the way in which technology is used to build and sell property across the country.
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Property entrepreneur Faisal Butt, founder and chief executive of Pi Labs, a venture capital firm supporting others to innovate in the proptech sector, will be the first expert to sit on the council.
He will provide advice to the government on how to make the property market work better – for example, helping homebuyers find a home or helping developers find the sites they need to build.
“In bringing together the best and brightest minds in proptech globally in a strategic and coordinated way, we can begin to make the UK the global epicentre of proptech excellence I know it can be,” Butt said.
He added that by working together, the government and private proptech sector will be able to propel protech start-ups to a meaningful international scale.
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The UK proptech sector is potentially worth £6bn and already receives 10 per cent of global proptech investment.
“We’re taking every advantage that new technology has to offer across the entire house building and house buying journey,” said McVey. “Whether that’s finding a plot of land, getting planning permission, engaging the local community, getting the property built or selling or buying a house.”
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“As long as the right people are on it, this advisory council is just what we need; a collaboration between public and private sector with a view to bridging the gap between real estate and tech,” said Mike Scott, partner at Cripps Pemberton Greenish and head of real estate.
“Only by converging the two can tech understand the challenges facing real estate and real estate can start to understand where tech can add real value.
“The housing industry is complex and fragmented and this advisory body should help to bring the various stakeholders together with a view to pooling resources, sharing data and identifying the areas where tech can simplify and speed up every stage of the property life-cycle from planning to sale. We could do with the same approach in commercial real estate.”