Federation of Independent Agents (FIA) partners with deposit-free renting platform flatfair

●flatfair’s cutting-edge payment technology available to FIA accredited independent agents

● FIA Members will enjoy exclusive commission rates

The Federation of Independent Agents (FIA) has announced that flatfair, a fintech scale-up allowing tenants to instantly rent a home with no deposit, will provide their deposit replacement product to FIA members in an exclusive deal.

The partnership will provide FIA members with preferential commission rates, allowing them to compete with larger agents.

The FIA is a member-only network of independent estate agents, with only one member per town meaning it creates a non-competitive, sharing economy.

Members benefit from multiple, approved supplier deals with some of the industry’s leading and most exciting suppliers.

Crucially, the FIA is an invitation-only association with stringent membership criteria, meaning tenants and landlords alike can trust any FIA member to be of the highest quality.

flatfair‘s payment technology enables tenants to secure a tenancy by paying a one-off membership fee, often equal to the equivalent of one week’s rent (+VAT).

This massively cuts down on upfront costs, while at the end of a tenancy all charges are transparently lodged for a tenant to review. flatfair is fully integrated with the government-authorised deposit protection provider mydeposits.

flatfair recently raised $11 million in a funding round led by Index Ventures. The platform will use the monies raised to hire product engineers, data scientists and business development specialists and develop new features.

Graham Lock, founder and chairman of FIA, says:

“When you’re looking for a place to rent, it can be tough to know if the agent you are using will be professional. The FIA aims to make this a thing of the past by ensuring all our members are invite-only and vetted through a stringent process. The upshot of this is to make renting fairer and more transparent, which is exactly what flatfair are trying to do as well, making us natural partners. I’m looking forward to working with flatfair in providing our members with a modern, robust solution for deposit replacements. The added benefit of corporate style commission rates aligns with my strategy to get the best deals for my independent members.”

Franz Doerr, founder and CEO, flatfair, says:

“Our cutting-edge payment technology is bringing renting into the 21st century by making instant move-ins possible through a platform that is transparent and trustworthy. We’ve already partnered with major real estate firms like Greystar and CBRE and it’s fantastic that we are now able to partner with independent agents through our deal with the FIA.”

Other benefits of FIA membership include quarterly conferences, bespoke online training, mystery shopping, Feefo review account, Homesearch data reports, free instant valuation tool, competitor insights, access to bespoke content and a range of in-house tools to help win more instructions