An international residential platform which manages 200,000 properties in 29 countries across Europe – including the UK – has signed an agreement with a due diligence and tenant referencing service. 

Spotahome says the risk of tenant fraud remains high, so it is vital that landlords have secure tenant referencing systems in place when using its platform.

Homeppl combines fraud detection tests, behavioural analysis and financial algorithms, as well as Open Banking data, to assess the ‘transactional ability’ of prospective tenants. 

Spotahome has embedded Homeppl in a new premium package for landlords; it claims 2,000 have already signed and is forecasting 10,000 by the end of the year. 

Spotahome says this is reducing entry barriers to rent for tenants by no longer having to charge an initial payment of between one and three months’ rent, while also providing financial and legal security to landlords by mitigating fraud, guaranteeing rent and covering the cost of any damage to property.

Spotahome co-founder Alejandro Artacho says: “This … makes Spotahome the only platform offering rentals with no deposit and landlords guaranteed across multiple countries in Europe and it is just a step towards making rentals more accessible, and at the same time more secure for both tenants and landlords. 

“In the following months, Spotahome will continue to launch new functionalities becoming the European digital rental platform of reference.”

Meanwhile the chief executive of Homeppl, Alexander Siedes, adds: “This partnership will help support rental mobility across Europe, enabling tenants to explore new cities and rent with greater freedom while protecting landlords from any financial or legal risk.”