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

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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