Bristol’s PyTerra secures £45k for retrofit housing R&D project

PyTerra, a Bristol-based fintech firm, has secured a £45,730 to research, develop and trial a prototype software application to help private landlords with the collective purchasing of retrofit services.

The grant funding, which comes as part of a larger £114,000 R&D project comes from the West of England Combined Authority-managed European Regional Development Fund. The Bristol housing retrofit initiative also benefits from funding from the University of Bristol for intern support.

With the government expected to require all new tenancies to have at least a ‘C’ EPC rating by 2025, with all rental properties falling in line by 2028, the new application will aid the process of making these modifications, saving time and money in the process.

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A team of 20 has been appointed to support PyTerra on the project, including members from Rocketmakers, Carnsight Communications, Beautiful Insights, Dtime, Geospatial Insight, Quidos, and interns from the University of Bath and the University of Bristol.

David Arscott, founder and CEO at PyTerra, said: “This project is the culmination of months of intensive research we’ve undertaken to best tackle retrofitting and decarbonisation. We are so pleased to be awarded this grant so that we can accelerate our business development.

“We aim to give private landlords and letting agents visibility of the types of changes needed to ensure properties continue to act as sound investments while maintaining compliance, improving conditions for tenants, and contributing to net zero. Our innovative approach delivers all this through high performing buying groups.”

Jerry Turner, chief commercial officer at PyTerra, said: “Feedback in the marketplace so far has been incredibly positive and we look forward to launching the prototype and saving landlords money and time in making these really important changes. We’ve assembled a brilliant team of specialists from the South West and beyond, alongside some very talented interns, to help us.”

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