Proptech launched to help renters get into homes faster

A proptech start-up has been launched to help renters get into their dream homes faster through simplifying the process of utilising government grants.

Balfour Homes uses its proprietary technology to match customers with the blocks of land and house and land packages which best suit their budget and needs.

After working in property for some time, co-founder and managing director James Mullany had the idea to start a company to guide people through the whole building process after seeing so many struggle with information overload as they tried to navigate grants.

“A lot of people find navigating information on finance and lenders tricky, and then there’s the process of finding a reputable builder that suits their requirements,” he explained.  

“We aim to take that stress away to not only make the process easy, but to help move people away from renting and into their new homes sooner by leveraging the grants available to them.

“The key to our success is that we’re able to help people no matter what part of the process they’re at. We take care of everything from finance to finding their dream block of land and builder, even if they’ve been knocked back by lenders in the past.”

The group pushes a simple, three step process to “stop renting and start living”.

1. Finance and grants – Balfour Homes qualified mortgage brokers help customers understand their borrowing capacity and lender options, before finding the rate best for them
2. Land – Partnerships with developers across the country enables group to find a block of land in the customer’s budget and area they want to be in
3. Home – Agreements with builders nationwide allows company to provide bespoke home designs based on customer’s vision and budget

“We’ve spent the last six months building our platform, validating our process and building out our team,” said Mullany.

“We hired inhouse finance experts to help our customers not only determine their borrowing capacity, but find the best finance options for them. We’ve also partnered with top builders across the country, so we’re able to find our customers homes in the locations they want to be in.”

According to the managing director, the group is already rapidly growing.

“One of the reasons we’ve been able to gain traction so quickly since launch is because we don’t charge our customers. We act as consultants for the builders, so it makes us a great incentive for both the consumer and builder,” Mullany said.

Balfour Homes works across more than 100 building partners and mortgage providers, including banks, non-bank lenders, credit unions, building societies and online lenders.