What is the problem/issue being addressed?
Throughout history, people spent their lives in the same homes. These buildings served as a place for shelter, services and storage. Immobility signalled not so much a lack of wanderlust as simple pragmatism: moving house was disruptive, complicated and time-consuming.
All this is changing. The world we live in has been transformed in ways that have revolutionised the very meaning of ‘home’. With more and more of our possessions portable (laptops, phones), rentable (Zipcar, Vélib bikes) or stored on the cloud (music, books, photos), the need for a fixed abode is diminishing. It’s getting easier to move, and more are doing so. That’s a trend that is set to continue.
For European citizens especially, where free borders make travel routine, more people are moving between and within countries to work, study or pursue new opportunities. And because more people—especially the 50% of adults who are single—are taking shorter tenancies and moving more often, there has been a surge in the rental market. ‘Home’ is now less about long-term possession and storage, and more about short-term access to comfortable shelter and essential services.
Why is it important for society?
The need for a flexible and consistent property rental platform is especially strong in Europe. Freedom of movement between countries is a cornerstone of the Union. But in practice, finding accommodation outside of hotels and holiday lettings is bureaucratic, time-consuming and requires considerable advance notice. Inconsistent real estate procedures make it confusing for citizens of one country looking for accommodation in another. Accommodation, not immigration, is the biggest hurdle for Europeans moving country for study, work or new opportunities.
Take London, a popular city for EU citizens to live in. Talk to most expatriates and you’ll hear the same thing: finding accommodation—not work—was the hardest part of relocating. Many are reduced to asking their Facebook friends for leads, or joining a local expat chat group in the hope of finding one that has a vacancy. Similar experiences can be heard in other EU cities.
What are the overall objectives?
Qoob will do to estate agents what Opodo did to travel agents, eBay did to secondhand shops, and Airbnb is doing to hotels. By getting rid of the middleman in favour of a peer-to-peer model, Qoob is bringing the property market in line with the changing needs of society and rapid pace of technology.
Qoob is a technology platform that lets you rent property directly from your phone, making estate agents a thing of the past. Described by the Daily Mail as ‘the Tinder of property’ our platform makes property transactions cheaper, faster and globally consistent. It lets owners list their properties and tenants list their needs. Both can browse, make a match and exchange rent, even at short notice or for an open-ended length of time.
