Speedrent was created for instant letting

Wong Whei Meng, the founder and CEO of Speedrent, is looking to making the renting process easier and more secure. AWANI Review's Mariam Azmi talks with the CEO about his platform and how it compares to traditional property listing services.

Speedrent wants to make the process of renting a home stress-free. Similar to vacation rental platform Airbnb, the homegrown company serves as a online marketplace for long-term home rentals.

Unlike the traditional property listing websites, Speedrent cuts out the process of going through a middleman or property agent, allowing tenants and landlord to connect directly.

“So, what makes us interesting is that we focus on three key things - safety, equality and most importantly, everything is automated.”

“What do we mean by safe? We use technology and work with credit reporting agencies to filter a tenant. So, we will make sure that you have great scoring before you can rent a house. That way it’s safer for the landlord,” says Wong.

Speedrent is completely free for landlords to list while the tenants are required to pay either RM399 (roughly US$98) for 1 year tenancy.

When it comes to the aspect of equality, Speedrent advocates the elimination of race-based listing - where those looking to rent a house are often asked about their race - a relatively common practice in the Malaysia and Singapore housing rental market.

“We educate potential landlords and tell them if they prefer a certain race, they might have to wait a bit longer to get a tenant because a listing opened to all races will be promoted on our website. Therefore, giving the listing a higher chance to get spotted by potential tenants,” says Wong.

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