COMMENT: The BPF’s role is to help the industry grow and thrive. That is why we recently commissioned and published a report from the Future Cities Catapult on how we can (and must) use technology and innovation to improve productivity in the property industry, writes Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation.
But as important is to drive innovation to improve the experience for our customers – after all, they are increasingly using tech to research and judge us.
The report gives us some clear messages: digital transformation and technological innovation is not currently widely or evenly spread across the property lifecycle. There is a language and understanding gap between innovators and traditional real estate companies and we need to learn from other sectors and bring in new talent and thinking into real estate. That will help to drive a culture change to a more customer-focused and collaborative outlook. Government also has a huge role to play by using its convening power and helping to shape the market.
19th century thinking
In a nutshell, as one person at the report’s launch put it, while the industry is changing we are too often solving 21st century problems with 20th century or even 19th century technology and ways of thinking (both industry and regulation).
There are some equally clear recommendations: a shared vision for a more productive and sustainable sector using innovation and technology to design better outcomes for people and for communities; better data on promising emerging technologies and services, and on how the sector is changing; better data exchange and common standards; and the formation of a talent stack for real estate to make sure we have the digital skills we need; and finally, a regulatory framework that does not inhibit innovation.
You may not agree with all of these, but we surely need to have the debate – a debate that recognises and celebrates soaring ambition and potential, but equally is grounded in finding solutions to the real issues companies are facing and identifying the opportunities that will enable sectoral transformation. This is fundamental structural and cultural change and the BPF is uniquely placed to facilitate the industry’s journey and make sure that the “size of the prize” and the risks of being left behind are well understood by both our members and by government.
Innovation-based proposal
Innovation was at the heart of our sector deal proposal to the government under the industrial strategy, and a collaborative partnership between the public and private sectors, and academia, must be an important part of making sure that we transform the whole sector rather than relying on a small number of pioneers (important as they are) who leave others behind, and thereby losing opportunities to deliver a better experience and outcome for all of our customers – that’s everyone in the UK – as well as to the planet through more efficient use of scarce resources and mitigating environmental impact.
The BPF is creating a new leadership group to bring together representatives of both traditional property companies and the tech sector to support our work and to help us bridge the gap between different cultures and ways of thinking. Many of our members are already bringing in fresh ideas from outside the property sector to help them to innovate, and our role at the BPF will be to help raise awareness of change and to spread good practice. It’s also critical that we explain better the operation of the whole property cycle and signpost areas of potential gain, and areas where innovation has been slow (or even lacking), to allow the many creative innovators in proptech to respond.
Big gains on offer
There are big gains to be had in revolutionising processes, but customers will be at the heart of transformation – and our industry has collectively been slow to understand this. Ignore it at your peril – social justice (or the lack of it) has been the underlying dominant political theme over the past few months underneath Brexit and day-to-day political infighting. Rightly so – and as a sector providing the basic human need of shelter we have a huge responsibility to respond. Harnessing customer-led technology and innovation provides us with a huge opportunity to do so.
