Free property listings for agents on new student acco...

A new PropTech start-up that claims to make student house-hunting easier is offering free listings to lettings agents with London properties.

Polygon says it’s developed “a housemate matching algorithm.”

Under the system, students can swipe left on homes to let that they don’t like - similar to dating apps Tinder and Bumble - while if they swipe right, they can leave their availability with the homeowner for a viewing or reservation.

The platform says its algorithm “pairs students based on their domestic habits and personalities to prevent this from happening, turning housemates into lifelong friends.”

This information is also available to the agent to assist with due diligence.

The app offers free listings to letting agents, landlords and purpose-built student accommodation providers, but they must then pay when 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” says the platform’s launch statement.

The app claims to have thousands of rooms in dozens of locations already, from PBSA and other student sector organisations including 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. 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” says chief executive TK Gondo.

“I became obsessed with finding a solution to fix the problem and 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. 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” he adds.