A platform with over 100,000 users that claims to be the world’s first accommodation rental platform and community created for women says it is demonstrating a new model in the property rental business.
Her Roomies aims to create ‘a much deeper connection with the renter’ rather than just looking at it as a transaction, ‘to increase the revenue streams and customer lifetime value’.
With the sharing economy, the rise of the digital nomad (further accelerated by Covid) and the simple fact of cost, renting is a growing option globally.
As a result, letting agents are increasingly using new technologies such as online listing, video and e-signing, with Covid driving the adoption of PropTech.
“However, that is really where the use of technology ends,” the platform says. “Traditional residential property rental platforms are non-segmented and are focused on transactional rentals.”
By contrast, Her Roomies says it offers a segmented market designed to help landlords target their properties to female tenants.
The platform says it is building a community to ‘better understand the market needs, build loyalty and lifetime value vs a one-off transaction’.
The company offers a one-stop shop offering all types of properties from rooms to whole flats, to co-living to student residences. It also provides a flatmate compatibility tool, property verification services to improve safety, concierge services, helpHER , and neighbourhood checking – all these features, the firm says, support the renter including move-in day help and administration help with paperwork.
As a double-sided marketplace, Her Roomies says it doesn’t charge listing fees, thereby encouraging properties onto the site from landlords and investors. It also helps landlords/investors target their properties to female tenants, and includes ID verification, deposit and first month’s rent paid (all of which is managed online).
The platform says it makes its money when the property is rented and the deposit and first month’s rent are paid.
Her Roomies claims to be a completely different model to property rental sites such as Rightmove, Zillow, Zoopla or Facebook Marketplace. By ‘creating a rental ecosystem for women’, the company insists it is developing a greater customer lifetime value and offering a much deeper, holistic offering to their community.
It’s led by a father and daughter leadership team, Nick and Chiara Fraser, who combine Nick’s 35 years property experience with Chiara’s over 10 years experiential marketing and branding experience.
The company, which says it has had good traction in Spain, is now looking to expand rapidly into the UK and the rest of Europe.
You can see the firm’s website here.
