PropTech for economic recovery: Tech.London and UKPA roundtable recap

This summer, Tech.London and UK PropTech Association organised a roundtable discussion looking at the role of PropTech companies in supporting economic recovery post-Covid, and it has stayed on my mind ever since. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Chief Digital Officer, Paul Maltby, moderated the discussion and a variety of individuals joined representing companies across the housing market, office space, and the future of retail and high streets.

For context of my interest here, I spent ten years in startups and tech investment before taking on a new role in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government at the beginning of 2019. In my current work as PropTech Strategist, I focus on engaging and supporting emerging PropTech companies to help drive more transparency, efficiency and productivity across the housing market.

For years PropTech has led to greater efficiency and innovation in residential and commercial real estate, and in a socially distanced world it plays an even more crucial role. Digital innovation is key to property managers being able to communicate with residents, workspaces adapting to new safety measures, and public spaces and high streets being able to reopen.

The roundtable brought up a number of examples of how technology is supporting economic recovery more broadly, with some examples for the housing market including:

• enabling developers and public sector landholders to more quickly evaluate and prioritise land for development, helping positively impact housing delivery pipelines
• supporting SME builders with tools that can help them find suitable sites, prepare feasibility studies, and secure funding
• supporting local authorities to make more informed planning decisions more quickly, and digitally engaging citizens in planning and shaping their communities
• facilitating virtual home viewings and supporting the home buying and selling process to be carried out remotely

I’ve been speaking to a number of companies including entrepreneurs in Croydon, and working to join conversations where people are driving toward the same goals. My colleagues in the Digital Land team are additionally focused on making land and housing data easier to find, use and trust.

If anyone is working on a PropTech company related to housing, please feel free to reach out to me at jessica.williamson@communities.gov.uk and I am happy to put heads together. For those of you who did not attend the roundtable live, the recording is here if you would like to hear the full conversation:

Roundtable Participants:

Sammy Pahal – Managing Director, UK PropTech Association
Rishi Chowdhury – Co-Founder & CEO, Incube
Louisa Dickins – Co-Founder, LMRE
Conan Lauterpacht – Managing Partner, M7 Structura
Grace Manning – Marsh – Head of LandEnhance, LandTech
Gonzalo Marquesini – Founder, RenKap
Tushar Agarwal – Co-Founder & CEO, Hubble
Stephen Croney – Customer Success Manager, Esri UK
Jason Howarth – CEO & Founder, Veya
Rupert Parker – CEO & Founder, Building Passport
Ed Cooke – Global Growth Director, Mallcomm and Toolbox Marketing
Guy Adderley – UK Country Manager, Forsite
Paul Maltby – Chief Digital Officer, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (moderator)
Jess Williamson – PropTech Strategist, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government