PropTech Rating and Assessment System (PRAS): building collaborations to promote excellence in the built environment industry

PropTech is the buzzword for digital transformation within the real estate sector. PropTech Investment capital is currently estimated at approximately $5b in the UK and nearly $100b globally, with over 1,095 firms in the UK and 10,000 globally (Unissu data, 2022). Although tens of thousands of PropTech tools, platforms, and software have been developed, there is no effective way of evaluating their efficiency and performance. Recent studies suggest that PropTech tools should be assessed based on their abilities to improve the environmental, social, economic, and physical (ESEP) efficiency of real estate use, operations, and services. However, the methodology to be adopted to develop this framework is yet to be developed.

This project aims to develop a collaborative network of professionals and scholars that will lay the foundation for the development of a PropTech Rating and Assessment System (PRAS). The core project objectives are:

1\. Research and scoping: This will entail desktop-based research to review and analyse existing assessment systems in other sectors such as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) and EPC (Energy Performance Certificate). This will inform the evaluation of the ESEP efficiency framework to understand its feasibility, viability and practicality. Following this, a methodology will be developed for the development and deployment of PRAS.

2\. Collaboration and partnership building: This will entail the strengthening of the existing collaboration between Bloomshill, LMRE, and Scansan Properties, and the development of new partnerships. The project team will integrate the views and perspectives of other industry professionals, regulators and scholars to develop PRAS. Interviews, focus group sessions and other industry engagement activities will be organised to facilitate this process. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Chartered Institute of Buildings (CIOB), UK PropTech Association (UKPA) and Department for Levelling UP, Housing and Communities will also be invited to contribute their perspectives. To further expand the current scope of the partnership, members outside the project team will be invited to participate in workshops that will be organised to discuss and evaluate the PRAS development and deployment plan. Finally, this project will culminate in the writing of a collaborative bid for the Implementation phase of the project.

This project will produce the first blueprint for a PRAS that will support real estate professional regulators and policymakers for an agile and proportionate regulation in response to the heightened digitisation and innovation in the built environment.