Platforms Pump Up Rental Revolution: Justin Butterworth

The hotel and rental industry was changed forever in 2008 with the launch of Airbnb and now one of the brains behind the idea is moving in a new direction.

Page 12 of the original pitch deck for the Airbnb platform talks about an Australian company Rentahome, which was founded by Sydney’s Justin Butterworth. 

He went on to sell the original holiday rental company to Fairfax and Stays for $29 million in 2011. Now Butterworth is on to the next rental revolution to pump up supply by funding new developments. 

Butterworth will join a panel of speakers during The Urban Developer’s flagship event, Urbanity 2025, looking at bold ideas to unlock new models of housing delivery.

The panel will bring together changemakers from non-profit pioneers to fintech disrupters and planning advocates. 

The Rentahome and Snug founder said rental platforms were derisking the development cycle and creating a new way of financing projects.

“Partners like Snug take a lifetime housing perspective for customers that have a multifaceted platform to help developers and operators,” Butterworth said.

“It is not only by potentially financing their development through our development fund, they can also lease out their property on completion to great tenants.”

The “serial entrepreneur” said his company provided software to real estate agents for a community of about 1.7 million renters and 34,000 property managers.

“I come from a background of considering markets, the failures and the opportunities and how they can work better to bring consumers and suppliers together,” Butterworth said. 

“In 1999 I quit my job, sold my house and invested in a little holiday rental platform called Rentahome, which I built into our business with nearly 30,000 properties in the short-term rental space.”

That connection to the rental community has stayed true and Butterworth plans to use his latest platform to help renters solve the housing crisis.

▲ The Snug.com platform has about 1.7 million renters and 34,000 property managers.

Butterworth said rent-vesting was a big shake-up for the industry that was changing the way people looked at renting and growing wealth. That in turn was changing the industry.

“We are seeing rent-vestors make a decision to live where they love and invest where it matters,” Butterworth said. 

“They are separating home from home-ownership, which is giving better outcomes across their lifestyle and financial needs.”

Butterworth said these changes were happening now and impacting rental stock.

“Generational changes are occurring in renting and we are also seeing exciting opportunities in build-to-rent and other categories of co-living and lifestyle housing,” he said.

“It’s setting a new bar for rental services and experiences.

“We are also seeing the bifurcation of real estate agency space to either smaller boutique agencies or larger multigroup offices.”

For the Snug founder this has created an opportunity for creating a platform to improve housing outcomes through the leasing journey.

There is also the space to help people who are less tech-savvy to find a rental through ballot systems.

Butterworth said those who rented and owned would be able to help each other get in and out of the market.

“Our next horizon is to develop products that will provide renters the opportunity to invest in a diversified blue chip portfolio of residential properties,” Butterworth says. 

“We are also developing an equity release product.”

Butterworth is to join Chris Ferris from Coposit, Natalie Rayment from Therefor Group and Victoria Parker from The Lady Musgrave Trust on the main stage of Urbanity on Wednesday, July 30.

The Build, Baby, Build panel session will unpack how shared equity, rent-to-own models, affordable housing partnerships and planning-led outcomes can unlock pathways to home for more Australians.

The Urban Developer’s flagship three-day conference on the Gold Coast will be held from July 29-31. For more details click here.