New app which matches compatible student housemates is launched

A PropTech startup has launched a mobile app to make student house hunting easier.

Polygon, which launched in August 2018 to help students find the best home and housemates, aims to provide access to the best halls and homes London has to offer.

And, to prevent issues caused by tenants not getting along, Polygon has developed a housemate matching algorithm so disputes between renters can become a problem of the past.

With the app, students can swipe left on homes they don’t like - similar to dating apps such as Tinder and Bumble – while if they swipe right, they can leave their availability with the homeowner for a viewing or instant reservation.

Polygon claims its housemate-finder algorithm pairs students based on their domestic habits and personalities to prevent issues from occurring, instead ‘turning housemates into lifelong friends’.

This information is also available to the agent or landlord to assist them in their due diligence process.

The Polygon app offers free listings to letting agents, landlords and purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA), but they must pay once the student signs their tenancy agreement.

“Due to the many horror stories of rogue landlords taking advantage of unsuspecting students, Polygon only lets regulated landlords and letting agents list their properties on their platform,” the startup’s launch statement said.

The app claims to already have thousands of rooms in dozens of locations, including from major players in the PBSA and student sector industry such as Homes For Students, Fresh Property Group, Nido Collection and Brittania Students.

“The idea for Polygon came from a bad experience I had in my second year of university,” chief executive TK Gondo said. “My housemates and I were completely incompatible which lead to many arguments, petty disputes and me eventually leaving the house and ultimately dropping out of university. The fallout was stressful and expensive for me, my housemates and the landlord whose revenue was at risk while the situation was resolved.”

Gondo said he became obsessed with finding a solution to fix the problem and soon realised ‘technology was the answer’.

“As the concept for Polygon started to take shape our team uncovered that no-one has genuinely taken the time to make a mobile-first accommodation platform for students,” he continued. “After being accepted into the Google cloud for startups programme we have the business and technical support to keep improving and making our students happy.”