Adam Pigott CEO of tlyfe – the Oracle of the lettings industry
Everyone is familiar with Adam Pigott‘s tlyfe app, developed by OpenBrix tram, which streamlines and enhances the rental process for both tenants and letting agents. But not so many people know that like many founders Adam is the oracle when it comes to his specialist subject – lettings. Because in a former life not only did he run lettings businesses, scaling up tlyfe means he is still totally immersed in the industry.
So when I caught up with him I started by asking Adam his thoughts on two big topics:
Labour Government’s Impact on the Rental Industry
Adam’s view was that the government has outlined several significant changes to the rental industry in the UK, aiming to enhance tenant rights and address various issues within the private rental sector. But that each new inniative might have unintended consequences. He listed out some key areas, abolishing Section 21 Evictions. Labour plans to abolish Section 21 “no-fault” evictions, providing greater security for renters and ensuring they are not unfairly displaced.
Owen Redman goes through the Numbers of his company Roome
Luke Knight took the time to catch up with Owen Redman co-founder of Roome, for a deep dive into how this company is scaling up, where it came from and what problems it really solves.
What is Roome and who is Owen?
‘When starting university, Owen was driven to make money to support himself. While on placement and working night shifts at Tesco, his days were spent creating an innovative student housing platform, Roome.
A few months into starting his degree at the University of Bath, playing football in teams with the older students. Owen realised that if he hadn’t figured out where to live and with who, he would have had to commute from Bristol. Owen didn’t click with the people in his 14-person halls very well at all, bar one. This led him to start joining Facebook groups, but the problem was that although some people were looking for housemates, the majority were selling tickets, clothes, and all sorts. It then came to looking for a house, resulting in jumping between marketplaces that all had a subset of the property economy of Bath.
Roome began as a housemate matching site with student-friendly accommodation for lets. Owen set out to find out how big the business could be, how they could monetise it, and how they could build a business model out of it.
He would go to letting agents and private landlords by explaining that they were wasting 70% of their time on unsound leads (students not turning up to viewings, not full groups, students dropping out). However, this came with a number of problems.
Keychain announces upgrades to its mortgage and protection client portal
Keychain, a leading provider of client software for mortgage and protection advisers, has announced an enhancement of its client portal’s features today. Launched in 2023 with backing from HM Land Registry, the platform now offers additional features including complete white-label customisation, automated client reminders, and a comprehensive generic medical questionnaire for protection cases. It is headed by CEO & Founder Jack Rogers.
Over the past 12-months, Keychain has collaborated closely with its existing customers to enhance the platform. These improvements are designed to streamline the workflow for advisers and improve the overall client experience.
White-Label Customisation
The new white-label option allows brokers to fully brand the platform with their own logo and colours, providing a seamless digital experience for their clients. Brokers can now include links for creating accounts and logging into existing accounts directly on their websites, enhancing the client journey with a consistent branded interface.
Joe Schwok, Director of Cheap Mortgages Ltd, commented, “With Keychain, we can simply email our clients a link to the online portal, or they can follow a link from our website. Clients can then complete their fact find, bespoke to each transaction type, and upload all their supporting documents. It’s a fantastic time-saving solution.”
Automated Client Reminders
The introduction of automated reminders is set to significantly reduce the administrative burden on advisers. This feature helps ensure clients complete necessary tasks in a timely manner, without the need for manual follow-ups.
Matt Gibbs, Director of MRG Private Clients, stated, “We’ve tried various platforms over the past 13 years, but none met all our needs until we found Keychain. Our clients find the portal easy to use, and it has significantly reduced the time our advisers and admin spend chasing clients, thanks to the handy automated reminders.”
Andrew Stanton Founder & Editor of 'PROPTECH-X' where his insights, connections, analysis and commentary on proptech and real estate are based on writing 1.3M words annually. Plus meeting 1,000 Proptech founders, critiquing 400 decks and having had 130 clients as CEO of 'PROPTECH-PR', a consultancy for Proptech founders seeking growth and exit strategies. He also acts as an advisory for major global real estate companies on sales, acquisitions, market positioning & operations. With 100K followers & readers, he is the 'Proptech Realestate Influencer.'
