Canopy, a firm that says it wants to eliminate rental deposits in the next five years, has won a £50,000 cash injection.
The PropTech firm has been named as a finalist in a banking data competition called the Open Up 2020 Challenge.
The cash has been awarded specifically for its RentPassport product, which the company describes as “a portable digital rental identity which helps renters improve their credit score, as well as access a range of financial wellness products such as deposit free insurance which offers the same protections as with a cash deposit, except for eight weeks instead of five weeks.”
The £50,000 will be used to continue to develop the product and will take the RentPassport into a contact next summer, the winner of which will receive up to £200,000 in additional funding.
“Over 11m people in the UK have less than a £100 in savings. We have pledged to return £1,200 back to renters’ pockets, by eliminating rental deposits by 2025. We also want to boost renters’ financial wellness, so they can get on to the property ladder” says Tahir Farooqui, Canopy’s chief executive.
Out of the 107 entries received, the judging panel in the Open Up 2020 Challenge selected the 15 most promising concepts to move on to the final round. Many of these, including Canopy’s RentPassport, are already operating.
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Just another scheme to harvest cash from generation rent.
Deposits are for two reasons, to make tenants take care of the property and if that goes wrong, to give landlords ready cash to put the damage right quickly. Once landlords loose this simple facility rents will have to go up so that landlords can build up a necessary cash buffer. If they have to take out a short term loan then the cost of that has to go on the rents as well.
People who rent and never cause any deposit deductions can just take their deposit on to their next let and that is their cheapest option as it costs nothing to do.
One thing for sure is that life is never free unless you live on a tropical island where food hangs on trees, you have perfect health and there are no animals wanting to eat you. Failing that, make damn sure you have saved up £100. If you want to rent then you will need a couple of noughts more and paying an agency to help you dodge that fact is a bit on the simplistic side of human wit.
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