PropTech isn't all that it's cracked up to be

“The housing crisis will be solved using technology.” Or so I read somewhere this week.

This notion that technology is the panacea for all problems, and that PropTech—a term now almost antiquated in our sector—is the Holy Grail of solutions, is an oversimplification.

For over a decade, advocates have proclaimed that PropTech is the answer to every issue in the global property industry: from estate agency and mortgage broking to rentals, commercial real estate, property management, sustainability, house building, data-led decision making, and even robots that can paint buildings.

Yet, despite the evangelism, why haven’t we seen more substantial progress?

It’s because PropTech itself is not the silver bullet.

PropTech is a framework; an indirect facilitator—not a magic wand.

“You can’t digitise empathy,” someone once said. In other words, real solutions require context, user empathy, and, crucially, a deep understanding of the specific issues at hand.

Property professionals do need technology, whether it’s the creation of search portals, CRMs, or software tools that streamline life for sales and lettings agents and their customers. But we’re never going to reach a point where homes are transacted with just two clicks.

Why? Because technology in the property space is an enabler—an important one—but it’s still just an enabler. People come first, with technology a close second, in my opinion.

I recently heard a senior exec at one of the world’s leading global technology companies say that tech (and AI) won’t replace humans, but that the humans with tech and AI skills will. The parallel here is that PropTech augments property processes and the professionals within it, but, alone, it’s not the only solution.

Take, for example, the recent Trading Standards guidance on upfront information for property transactions. My business, Moverly, leverages technology to collate, understand, and display this essential information, easing the burden and time overhead for agents. It works to collect data and onboard customers compliantly working in partnership with agents and building deeper connections for them into their preferred partners in the overall transaction (such as property lawyers).

So whilst, for instance, our platform addresses the need for transparency and compliance, the technology alone isn’t the complete solution. The agent still needs to onboard the vendor and focus on the task of finding a buyer and getting the property sold. Moverly facilitates and underpins that process, and, whilst the information gathering in the background is much more seamless, it still also still needs to be interpreted and acknowledged by lawyers working on the transaction - these tasks, along with so many others in this sector require human input, insight and interaction.

So ultimately, PropTech isn’t the silver bullet. It’s a tool that can streamline and improve processes. It augments property professionals capabilities; perhaps you could say it gives them superpowers.

But, it would be nothing without the people who use it.