Agents back bid to become ‘Airbnb of HMO house shares’

A new property management platform seeking support form letting agents claims to be the ‘Airbnb for shared living’.

Vann Vogstad, the entrepreneur behind new platform COHO, has just raised £275,000.

It is specifically designed for houses of multiple occupation and allows property investors to manage their portfolio and tenants to find a suitable house share with likeminded people.

Vann launched the platform last year and has  signed over 80 landlords and agents managing thousands of rooms between them.

The firm’s team was recently strengthened by the appointment of former Reapit chief executive Gary Barker as a non-executive director.

The funding will allow the Worcester-based company to further expand the team with the addition of five new jobs and develop new features to improve the management of shared living.

Vann, who is the company’s CEO, says: “Co-living offers a positive lifestyle choice for many people living alone or struggling to afford their own home. By making house sharing easier to manage for both landlords and tenants, COHO aims to bring it to the mainstream.

“The support of our investors will enable us to move forward at a much faster pace to achieve our ambition of making shared living more accessible to both property investors and tenants, and become the Airbnb of house shares.”