PROPTECH-X ‘Proptech & Property News’: Jeremy Hunt rules out MIRAS tax break to help mortgage borrowers | Insurtech wefox secures partnership with Propup

The Chancellor says no return to MIRAS (mortgage interest relief at source) tax break, which was phased out in 1988.

Despite Liz Truss recklessly heightening the cost of borrowing for all in the UK by her short lived antics whilst in power, the Conservatives say their policy is for mortgage borrowers to tough it out.

It is widely expected that the Bank of England council will vote to raise the base rate tomorrow. Given that those looking to re-finance their mortgages face an extra £3,000 per annum hike, and new buyers can expect to be paying 6% plus, many had hoped the government would offer some financial aid.

Michael Gove Housing Secretary speaking on Sunday made it clear, it was down to the Chancellor, and Jeremy Hunt has said that inniatives like MIRAS, where borrowers get part of their monthly payments reduced by tax intervention, is not on the table.

For those who are old enough and can remember, until 1988, when MIRAS was repealed by Chancellor Nigel Lawson (which created a massive house price bubble followed by a stagnant market and falling prices for half a decade) those taking out a mortgage would only finance part of the loan. At that time interest rates were hovering around 11%, so different to where we are now in 2023.

Instead of taking any action, and many feel that there should be no intervention, Jeremy Hunt will the day after the Bank of England makes it decision on the base rate, meet with figures from the mortgage lending industry to see what can be done. The emphasis being put on lenders to sort out the mess caused by Trussanomics and continued high inflation.

As the lenders are constrained by the financial markets, the swap rate etc, it seems ludicrous that the Chancellor is even talking to the lenders as they are powerless to change their interest rates, as all is hard baked into the money markets. If money is expensive to borrow due to the fiscal policy of the Bank of England, which drives market sentiment, mortgages are pushed up.

With a slowing housing market, and completions likely to be down by 13% year on year, and there seeming to be no stopping further rate rises through to the end of the year, many now see 2023 as becoming the ‘bust’ phase that follows the 20% hike in property prices ‘boom’ fuelled by Rishi Sunak when he was in post as Chancellor, and his giveaway SDLT policy.

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Insurtech wefox secures partnership with Proptech Propup

Press Release

wefox, the Berlin-based insurtech and Austrian proptech start-up and Propup announce a new affinity partnership.

The partnership aims to use the innovative power and the enormous potential of digital transformation to benefit and protect customers and to make property insurance transactions simple through greater transparency, security and above all efficiency.

Julian Teicke (left), CEO at wefox said: “Keeping people safe and helping them to protect everything that matters to them has always been at the heart of everything we do. Property is probably one of the greatest investments people make and of course, the right protection in the form of fit for purpose insurance is critical.

“Our new partnership with PROPUP is not only an excellent demonstration of our digital technology in play to protect the customer, but also a clear validation of the importance of removing the paper jungle usually associated with property and real estate whilst ensuring every customer gets the right insurance for their needs,” added Mr. Teicke.

Kristof Konstantin, co-founder and co-CEO of Propup, said: “By working with wefox, we can expand our offering and now also give our customers access to a wide range of insurance solutions and advice via our platform. Whether it is household insurance, homeowners insurance or other types of insurance.”

Michael Reikersdorfer co-founder and CTO of Propup, added: “In addition, wefox , with its technology platform as a hub between customers, insurance brokers and insurance companies, enables us to make insurance processes relevant to our customers in the real estate business more efficient, such as much faster application and processing times for insurance contracts. The protection of customer data as the top priority and the guarantee of the highest security standards were enormously important decision-making factors for the partnership with wefox.”

This latest affinity partnership announcement from wefox is another endorsement of the wefox strategy to strengthen distribution capabilities via the global Affinity business. wefox is now delivering on its plans to build a tech platform that enables more companies to distribute insurance products. 

Another important aspect of the partnership is the personalised advice every customer can benefit from. wefox’s platform makes it possible to better understand a customer’s insurance profile and to create tailor-made offers.

Propup enables paperless work in real estate transactions and connects sellers, buyers, brokers, notaries, banks, lawyers, property managers and all important players in a real estate transaction.

The central figure is the real estate agent, who can handle and digitally map important processes in his workflow via the Propup platform, from the submission of the offer to the conclusion of the purchase or rental contract, or his entire property and prospect management.

A central Propup core function is a completely digitized form system for real estate agents and property managers. In the partnership with wefox, Propup is now expanding its service offering in an important core segment of the real estate business.

wefox was founded in 2015 by Julian Teicke, Fabian Wesemann and Dario Fazlic. wefox is an insurtech driven by a single purpose: to keep people safe by making insurance 10-times better through technology.

Since launching in 2015, the company has doubled its revenues every year to reach US$580 million in 2022 serving more than 2m customers across Austria, Germany, Italy, Poland, The Netherlands and Switzerland where wefox currently operates.

In May 2023, wefox secured US$55m credit facility from J.P. Morgan and Barclays alongside a $55m second close in its series D at US$4.5bn valuation. 

Propup was founded in Vienna in 2021 by Michael Reikersdorfer , Timo Schwarzkopf and Kristof Konstantin. Its software is a cloud based B2B SaaS real estate management platform that connects all relevant players in a real estate transaction (buyers, sellers , brokers, notaries, property managers, banks) in order to provide everyone involved with more efficiency, transparency and fairness offer.

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Proptech and Property News in association with Estate Agent Networking.