PropTech Today: The long-term future of renting is sh...

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19 July 2017

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PropTech Today: The long-term future of renting is short-term lettings

You may have heard that Airbnb and property management company, Lavanda has closed a £1 million angel investment round.

Backers include Purplebricks CEO, Kenny Bruce. We have been talking about the rise of short-term rentals for a while, so is now the time that the market explodes?

From holiday lets to short-term residential

Only a couple of months ago, it was announced that RIghtmove founder Harry Hill was to become Lavanda Chairman .

Now, with Kenny Bruce and other big names backing the PropTech startup, it is clear that a lot of successful people have a lot of confidence in Lavanda’s business model.

But it’s not the Airbnb property management side that has the investors excited, it’s the potential for disruption in the residential property market.

Kenny Bruce had this to say about the company's future:

“Lavanda’s innovative proposition to tenants, landlords and estate agents creates genuine value for all constituents. By tapping into the changing way people are living and working, this business has the potential to develop into a major player within the residential market. I’m delighted to be involved at this exciting time for the company.”

Lavanda’s co-founder, Guy Westlake, commented:

“Shorter-term rentals and the sharing economy are shaping the future of the residential property sector. This is a seismic shift, yet the industry is proving slow to adapt. Our platform now provides estate agents and property managers with an immediate means of tapping into this growing market.”

Harry Hill describes Lavanda as having a ‘first mover advantage’, and I would agree.

We have an increasingly transient population and long-term accommodation does not fit into the lifestyles of many. Assuming this trend is to sustain and grow, which seems likely given modern attitudes towards remote and flexible working, whoever can get to market first and offer affordable, fluid short-term rental solutions has the potential to become a household brand.

Given that Lavanda already has Rightmove and Purplebricks pedigree behind it, it’s likely the chances of achieving great name recognition and service association have increased.

Traditional property reacts

The sharing economy of our transient population cannot be ignored by the property industry.

It is leading to the biggest lifestyle shift we have seen in generations, and the way people are choosing to put roofs over their heads is a key part of this. It was only a matter of time before a short-term holiday lettings specialist (most of whom work with Airbnb rentals) pivoted their model to face the residential market.

It’s not surprising that the first party to act is one made up of PropTech, not traditional property, DNA (Hill, a former Countrywide chief executive, speaks fondly of Purplebricks, but is often damning of Countrywide and their ilk).

But traditional agents and firms are going to have to react to this movement, somehow. It will require the cooperation of private landlords and support from property management companies, but not everyone wants to commit to a six month contract if they’re only sticking around for six weeks.

If traditional property doesn’t begin to offer a short-term alternative, it will lose more and more clients to companies like Lavanda and Harry Hill’s comments that Countrywide were suffering from a ‘market share disaster’ may start applying to the traditional market as a whole.

Us and them?

If traditional property hesitates with short-term lettings, it could contribute towards a strong sense of ‘us and them’ in our society.

On one side, we have those with low to moderate incomes, ‘stuck’ in the rental market for eternity; they will go straight to the tech solutions that are offering them affordability and fluidity.

On the other side will be the wealthy homeowners who, in a circle of decreasing size, will pass property between each other with the aid of traditional surveyors, brokers and agents.

When considering the importance of being present in the rental market, there are two commonly agreed projections:

• By 2025, more people in the UK will be renting

• The population, especially the younger generations, is going to continue to become more transient.

Both projections are good news for Lavanda and will contribute towards its quest to become a household brand.

Established property companies need to find a way to compete in this new market. If they don’t, they risk becoming exclusively a service for homeowners, people of means.

Although having a client base of wealthy people is far from a bad thing, it does result in a vastly reduced market share.

In today’s world of swift business and breakneck innovation, targeting a low market share is surely unsustainable, not to mention high risk and, ultimately, short-sighted.

*James Dearsley is founder of the Digital Marketing Bureau and a PropTech communicator. To sign up to James’ Sunday PropTech Review, click here.

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- Simon Shinerock
- 19 July 2017 08:06 AM
So, from what I can gather, Lavanda is trying to integrate short term Airbnb Lettings with regular long letting by allowing long term tenants to benefit from short Lettings, sharing the gain with the landlord while regularising and managing the process. They want existing agents on side to provide stock and their promise is an enhanced more adaptable modern day service. What I do know is that they will need every bit of their hotel experience, I also think it may struggle as a mass rather than boutique service, it's a lot to coordinate

- Kristjan Byfield
- 19 July 2017 11:04 AM
There are a few issues to overcome yet- the

- Kristjan Byfield
- 19 July 2017 11:20 AM
At base we're actually seeing a different pivot in tenant behaviour. With more and more London tenants accepting that, short of a big inheritance or lottery win, they will never own a home in London- many are committing to their rented home. Our average tenant now rents a property with us for over 3 years with 5+ year tenancies also on the increase. Short lets are an essential part of the property market but, in a market already reaching maximum rent viability in many areas, you have to ask what large scale scope the short-stay market has whilst the prices remain at a premium. A great raise for lavanda withsome powerful names in there but with the hosted short stay market getting increasingly crowded it's a tough place to be. I laud their service innovation to offer a complete marketplace offering but do not see this as revolutionary as this piece suggests. I'd also have serious questions about taking up a service for a client when they also compete in my marketplace- how could I be sure I retain my client when their offering is everything and not a standalone service such as airsorted or the like.