A new start-up is committed to changing the status quo in the local property rental market.
“Our start-up will bring serious disruption because it also carries a strong social purpose – that of reducing the cost of renting a home while, at the same time, reducing the cost to landlords,” says Luke Curmi, the brains behind SQMETERZ, a online marketplace for mid- to long-term property rentals.
“There is no doubt that the rental market has been growing rapidly with the proportion of younger tenants, known as ‘Generation Rent’, increasing markedly. Renting is not exactly cheap with tenants and landlords bearing a significant share of the total transaction costs. This was the starting point that I set out to address and was determined to do something about.”
Curmi refers to the origins of his start-up as “a purely family affair”.
“Together with my father and my brother, we started working on how to change what was a very long established and traditional marketplace. That is how Sqmeterz was conceived.”
Curmi further explains that he wanted to mainly address three current pain points in the local rental market, namely the exorbitant fees, the laborious and time-consuming viewings and the lack of transparency.
“Renting property is becoming increasingly expensive and when one takes into consideration that currently most tenants pay 50 per cent of the first month rent to the letting agency and the other 50 per cent is paid by the landlord to the letting agency, one understands better what is driving prices up.
“In addition, tenants must pay a lump sum of money to put down a deposit to cover potential damages. This is what led to me disrupt this status quo with a platform where tenants pay zero per cent fees and the landlords pay only 25 per cent of the first month rent.”
Sqmeterz will also provide a Landlord Protection Guarantee whereby if the tenant causes damages to the property more than the deposit amount, Sqmeterz will cover the landlord for up to €250.
“I believe that this is a win-win for both the tenant and the landlord,” Curmi continues.
Other key strengths of the platform are self-listings of properties by landlords in just five minutes; virtual viewings, which reduce the number of wasted in-person viewings; physical viewings are coordinated and booked online; and contracts and other documentation are digitally executed.
He also mentions the “unparalleled transparency” offered by the platform.
“All tenants are screened and their profiles are verified before being uploaded on our online platform, and through a secure messaging system, the landlord and the tenant can communicate openly and directly. We are building a community of trusted tenants and reliable landlords.”
Curmi has a very clear vision.
“We have managed to launch the Sqmeterz online platform in 12 months from when it was originally conceived. And we have other plans as we shortly expect to start accepting listings of business and commercial properties. Our ultimate ambition is to take our platform to a foreign market,” he says.
“With our Sqmeterz online platform, we can fill an important gap in the market for ‘digital property renting’, a concept that is bound to challenge this market’s current status quo. Over and above this, we are also a start-up with a strong social purpose – that of reducing the cost of renting a home while at the same time reducing the cost to landlords.”
“But we do not want to just be disruptive. We will contribute efficiency and alignment to the market and, ultimately, change the customer’s experience.”