NSW Industry Reference Group on Protecting Renters’ Information

The Proptech Association Australia made the following submission to the NSW Rental Services Commissioner on behalf of members.

Australian proptech ecosystem made up of 480 proptechs and products. Of these roughly 10% are in the property management space

The majority are also focused on helping property managers to administrate, manage, account for, maintain and inspect property by replacing manual processes.

The development of renter-led technology is one of the emerging categories but it is rapidly growing.

The proptech sector has achieved this mostly through digitising and automating the previously very manual processes of leasing, managing and applying for property.

We have seen our role as making it easy for our end-users to be compliant with regulation, to reduce the stress and cost of compliance and in doing so, reduce the risk of non-compliance.

Renter apps - of which there are less than a dozen - are fairly new to the fold. They are based on the premise that the time of renters is just as valuable as anyone’s in the property ecosystem and that renters deserve tools that simplify and expedite their ability to find and live comfortably in a home.

The rising cost of rent - currently a median of more than $32,000 a year in NSW - is, similar to property purchasing, the most money most people will ever spend on anything in a year, and increasingly for many, in their lifetime.

Like so many property experiences however - and unlike any other consumer experience any of us have - the amount you spend does not in any way guarantee a renter a better service delivery. Regardless of whether you spend $1500 a week in rent or $500 a week you will be asked to attend a 15 minute inspection, submit countless forms, pay a hefty bond and be asked to jump through administrative hoops.

It is the belief of the Proptech Association Australia that renters - like all consumers - deserve great experiences and should be empowered as consumers of rental properties.

The two major renter apps Snug and 2Apply make it easier for renters to apply for properties by allowing them to fill in an application once, and then decide which agents and properties they will share it with. The apps advise them IF the property manager has opened and looked at their application. Renters are able to delete or modify their data as they wish and sensitive information is deleted from their systems after 60 days.

We agree that housing is a fundamental human right. This is the baseline from which we operate, not the ceiling.

Proptech has enabled the transformed consumer experiences we now rely upon across our lives - from banking, retail, transport, holidays, ordering take out or booking a cab - to be available as options that inspire better rental experiences. Consumers expect that. Renting property is not immune to the transformation that has occurred across society.

Do we get it right all the time? No, we do not. Do we push the envelope on what is possible at times? Absolutely. It’s our job to ask “is how it's done right now the best way to do it?”

My members are out-of-the-box thinkers and innovators who are overwhelmingly deep thinkers who care passionately about their technology and their clients, and their ability to solve problems and pain points. Most have gotten into the sector because of their own painful experiences in the property market.

In their DNA they do understand process structure and rules. Their tech relies on it, and they work to do that within existing consumer protections while also striving to show what else is possible.

Members of The Proptech Association of Australia are national businesses able to manage the complexity of state-based legislation across multiple borders.

We see solutions being implemented in adjacent industries such as banking and insurance and identify opportunities for them within the property space.

This includes identification verification, and the tokenisation of sensitive private information. We believe there is real practical applicability for these solutions in renting.

We also see our solutions being used effectively and enthusiastically across other property sectors within NSW - including residential sales being overseen by the Property Services Commissioner and building and construction being used and praised by the Building Services Commissioner - and see the possibilities for better property management and renting. There is a National Tenancy Database. There should also be a National Landlords Database. It would be a valuable asset for both renters and property managers.

It is the position of the Proptech Association Australia that all member technology must be compliant with relevant state and federal legislation and we have in the past, rejected membership applications from proptechs that we did not believe were behaving ethically or who flouted legislation.

But we do also champion proptechs whose tech challenges paradigms and offer new thinking to old problems. And we liaise between parties and members to improve quality when required.

The majority of PM tech out there is more than five years old, and data breaches mean the mood has changed since 2019. We accept that the premises upon which some of our tech was originally built are no longer the case.

We accept that users do not understand the intricacies of the tech, nor do they want to - and trust me we've tried explaining it. They simply want to know it is compliant and safe to use. That's a position of trust that we take extremely seriously.

Proptechs are working hard to respond to privacy and security concerns and recognise that a failure to do so is a breach of trust with our customers. This includes easily accessible privacy and data policies, introducing multifactor identification to their platforms, cracking down on password sharing, hosting their data with Australian-based providers who meet the appropriate ISO and SOC standards and following data security and encryption standards similar to those in banking and finance. Allowing customers to delete or port their data out of systems is also standard practice.

At the association, we have also established a Data Privacy committee that is examining the Attorney General’s Privacy Act Review recommendations. The committee is being tasked to create member guidelines for best practices for data privacy with a view to creating certification to provide end user confidence.

We look forward to working with you all to identify how our members can support and enable any of the recommendations that come out of this committee.

Property Management Proptechs

Note: Not all are PTAA members

Tenant Specific apps

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