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New flatmate finder available with a free trial for landlords
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
Buy-to-let landlords in the capital are currently being invited to list available rooms for rent free of charge online via a new compatibility based site.
The platform, Idealflatmate.co.uk, was designed by Cambridge professors and is based on an algorithm similar to that found on dating websites. It works to prioritise tenant compatibility to attempt to secure longer-term relationships and tenancies.
Habits
Technology used in the algorithm, functional after the respondent has completed a 20 question survey, focuses on the living habits and sociability of users.
A study from two professors, Dr Paula Banca and Professor Mark P Haggard, found that the relevance of questions asked were of paramount importance.
Founders of Ideal Flatmate, Tom Gatzen and Rob Imonkihe, came up with the idea for the platform after being continually frustrated with the ever-changing flatmates that had found through listing websites.
Mr Gatzen said: ‘Both myself and Rob have lived in flat shares that ended up in disaster because we didn’t get along with our flatmates. We thought that there must be an easier way.’[1]
‘For landlords and agents, it’s the perfect solution as the site is free and offers a great opportunity to get more visibility in alternative areas of the market, particularly amongst tenants in search of long term relationships which ultimately facilitates longer term contracts,’ he added.[1]
New flatmate finder available with a free trial for landlords
Reducing Turnover
The founders are hopeful that the emphasis on compatibility will cut the rental turnover rates in properties.
Gatzen also noted: ‘We’ve tried to make the site as user friendly as possible, which will make it more attractive to prospective tenants as well.’[1]
Ideal Flatmate is offering the free trial for landlords and letting agents until Spring, with the platform also offering assistance in achieving their optimum websites.
Since the soft launch phase in November, Ideal Flatmate has seen over 30,000 users, 3,000 people register and more than 1,000 properties listed.
Mr Imonikhe observed: ‘We’ve had overwhelming positive feedback from letting agencies thus far. We recently heard from a letting agent who had a property listed on a well-known listing site for three weeks with no interest, he put it on our site and after two days had found a full group of tenants and a 12 month contract.’[1]
[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/2/new-flatmate-finder-launches-with-a-free-trial-for-landlords
