The British Property Federation (BPF) and the UK PropTech Association (UKPA) have announced plans to merge in order to “drive innovation” in the property sector.
The merger will bring together the BPF’s membership of close to 400 property owners, investors, developers and advisors with the UKPA’s community of more than 1,000 entrepreneurs, solution providers, venture capital investors and proptech innovators.
The integration of the two organisation is expected to be formalised in June following consultation with UKPA members. If the merger goes through the UKPA would become become a legal subsidiary of the BPF and continue to deliver its programme of events and digital content in 2023.
It is intended that there will be no change to the terms of membership for either BPF or UKPA in the short term and the UKPA would continue to operate under its current name.
Melanie Leech, chief executive of the BPF, said: “The future health of the property sector and its ability to tackle fundamental challenges such as the decarbonisation of the built environment, will depend on its commitment to embracing new technologies and fully harnessing the power of data.
“We believe the integration of the UKPA within the BPF will create a powerful combined voice and new platform for knowledge-sharing and collaboration across the industry as we work to embed innovation and technology in all facets of property development and management. We look forward to discussing our plans in more detail with members over the coming months.”
Sammy Pahal, managing director of UKPA, added: “This merger presents a natural next step in the evolution of the UKPA as we strive to address key challenges within the industry including data, ESG, and enabling digital transformation. Our organisations share a common mission to drive growth and innovation and this as an opportunity to tackle these challenges together and create a more collaborative and innovative industry for all.”
Ami Kotecha, chair of UKPA, said: “This merger is testimony to the UK’s readiness for faster technology adoption within the real estate sector. Through a joint BPF-UKPA events and advocacy programme, we aim to scale up technology adoption and help resolve underlying issues such as marketplace inefficiencies, data asymmetry and the overall responsiveness of the UK’s property sector to the changing demands of its customers and occupiers.”
