63. Home Made

Founders: Asaf Navot and Nick Binnington
Founded: 2016
Website: www.home-made.com

“Extortionate fees, poor customer service, lack of transparency, and a misalignment of incentives.” These were the problems that Asaf Navot experienced whilst trying to let out his London property.

Navot didn’t think it was fair that the average London landlord pays £1,000 towards agency rent and so decided to do something about it.

After joining forces with co-founder Nick Binnington, the pair assembled a team from a cross-sector of industries including technology, property, medical products, charity, media, and even the military (Binnington served for 10 years) in an attempt to bring the best practices from these industries to an industry lacking in innovation.

The result was Home Made; which offers the premium service of a high-end estate agent without the sky-high fees.

Every landlord gets a dedicated account manager and tenants are able to view properties at a time that suits them, including late night viewings (10pm) and viewings on Sundays and bank holidays.

Home Made collects 80% of its revenue from landlords, collecting the remaining revenue from tenants, additional services and data. Fees start from just £948 plus VAT, which the start-up claims are 60-90% lower than the industry standard.

Additional services offered include professional photography and floor plans, marketing, independent referencing, contracting, payments and deposit handling.

Landlords who opt for its Premium Plus package (£1,498 plus VAT) also gain access to professional deep cleaning, inventory check-in report, gas safety certificate and energy performance certificate.

Hundreds of landlords and tenants have already used Home Made’s service and seem to be happy with the results: the start-up boast a 96% rating on Trustpilot.

Home Made will continue its focus on the local lettings market for the time being. But, with a large funding round anticipated for later in the year, it won’t be long before it starts exploring new services and locations.