Property management company Hostmaker has fallen into administration, with its staff facing potential redundancies.
Hostmaker was launched in 2014 by husband and wife duo Nakul and Deepti Sharma, while it raised £23m over the course of two funding rounds.
However it recorded a loss of £14.3m in 2018.
The company’s client base has been purchased by Houst.
Hedi Zidan, chief executive of Nestify, a proptech lettings agent in the UK, said: “The demise of Hostmaker demonstrates the challenges the short-term letting industry, and wider property market is facing.
“Although the property market has rebounded in recent months, unprecedented long-term uncertainty has not come without impact.
“Ultimately short term lets are vital to landlords, particularly those who need greater flexibility for their circumstances, and those who will be affected by the restriction of mortgage interest relief to the basic rate of income tax coming in from April, which could put a significant dent in their profits.”
James Jenkins-Yates, founder and chief executive of Houst, said: “As reported, Hostmaker’s UK business has been placed into administration and has subsequently ceased trading.
“On Friday, our offer to acquire Hostmaker’s non-UK subsidiaries was accepted by its administrators. As part of this, we have also stepped in to ensure all of Hostmaker’s UK hosts can continue offering the same great service to guests we know they strive for.
“Our focus on the immediate future is to seamlessly transfer all of Hostmaker’s hosts to our platform so that they can continue business as usual.”
