The UK PropTech Association (UKPA) has announced the launch of its new Residential PropTech Committee, which brings together senior individuals from estate agents and letting agencies, PropTech solution providers, and industry representative bodies, including Propertymark, and REACH UK with the aim of modernising processes, improving efficiency and delivering a better customer experience.
The launch comes at a time when the industry is facing rising operational costs, increasing compliance requirements, shifting consumer expectations, and growing focus on digitisation from both the government and consumers.
The UKPA says that, while technology adoption across the sector has accelerated in some areas, many agencies are still navigating uncertainty around where technology can genuinely add value, how to implement it effectively, and how to avoid adding complexity to already stretched teams.
The Residential PropTech Committee has been created to provide a practical forum focused on real industry challenges, knowledge sharing and outcomes that can support the wider residential sector. It also forms part of UKPA’s wider mission to support the digital transformation of the UK property industry and create a more conducive environment for innovation across the sector.
The Committee will initially focus on residential sales and lettings management, identifying key market challenges, barriers to adoption and opportunities for greater collaboration and best practice across the industry.
During its pilot phase, running until December 2026, is expected to help shape:
- Industry events exploring key residential market challenges and innovation opportunities
- Practical insight pieces and case studies focused on adoption and operational best practice
- Recommendations for industry and government around key adoption barriers
- Contributions to UKPA policy engagement and wider industry research initiatives
While the committee itself is made up of a smaller working group, its outputs are intended to benefit the wider industry. Insights, recommendations and events shaped by the committee will be made accessible to the broader UKPA membership and wider market wherever possible, helping ensure discussions and learning extend beyond it.
Philip Farrel, committee chair and co-founder of Offr, said: “Agents are acutely aware of the ever-increasing need to embrace technology in their business. An already excessive workload, added to a lack of tech expertise/understanding, can potentially lead to ‘PropTech fatigue’. It is key that agents are assisted in this area as it is now becoming an essential ingredient in the success of a modern estate agency business.”
Sammy Pahal, managing director of UKPA, said: “The residential property sector is entering a period of significant change, with increasing focus from government and industry on improving the efficiency, transparency and consumer experience of property transactions and lettings. Through UKPA’s involvement in wider industry and government-backed initiatives, including work with MHCLG and the Digital Property Market Steering Group (DPMSG), we can see there is a real opportunity for the sector to collaborate more effectively and ensure estate and letting agents and PropTechs are part of shaping that future. This committee is not about promoting technology for the sake of it. It’s about helping the industry better understand what works in practice, where the challenges are, and how we create better outcomes for businesses, consumers, and the wider property market.”
