Automation of Property Assessments to drive more RV for UK Councils

PRESTON, DECEMBER 09 2022- Destin Solutions, Wilks Head & Eve (WHE) and Cyclomedia have teamed up to launch an exclusive,  ground-breaking new solution which will change the way property assessments can be conducted for UK Local Authorities.

Destin Solutions, the business intelligence and data analytics experts, will provide the software platform for assessing and matching properties. WHE, the rating and valuation property specialists will provide the rating assessment expertise. Cyclomedia, the Street level data capture company, will underpin the offering with their large-scale and systematic visualisation of environments based on 360° panoramic photographs.

The combined solution will enable rating and property experts appointed by Councils, to conduct assessments and inspections remotely, without leaving the office. This builds on Cyclomedia’s success in large scale property assessment and appraisal in the US and the Netherlands.

This is the first solution of its kind to compare property image datasets collected at different points in time and detect properties that have been altered or changed during that period. Changes will typically include extensions, mezzanines, solar panels, alterations and changes in use.

This is leading edge technology and will use machine learning and AI to detect subtle nuances and changes in properties. The results this new approach will achieve, is a complete game-changer for Local Authorities. By automatically providing a list of potentially altered properties in the form of a change register, assessors will be able to check areas in more detail, uncovering additional rateable value (RV) quickly and less labour intensively.

A key part of the solution will incorporate an up-to-date High definition, very accurate, 360 degree imagery dataset of a Local Authorities entire area, collected using Cyclomedia’s fleet survey vehicles and their patented camera technology.

This will form the basis of comparisons against historical mapping data captured from that Local Authorities area from up to 8 years previously. The property change register will then visually show the alterations as well as a list of properties that are affected. Using this solution, rating and property assessment experts will be able to easily track back changes that have occurred, have been missed and are not reflected in current rateable values.

This level of automation has never been achieved before, with property inspections and assessments typically being a very hands-on, labour-intensive, time-consuming task. Local Authorities will benefit in numerous ways;  supporting an approach that minimises the need for onsite inspections, reduces carbon footprint, and significantly increases the amount of altered properties found. This will ultimately result in more revenue generation and at less cost than existing alternatives.

The solution forms a natural extension to NEXUS, the missing assessments product launched by Destin Solutions back in 2020 and will be available exclusively, as part of revenue and ratings experts WHE’s NEXUS Professional offering.

Stephanie O’Neill, Partner at WHE comments…

“this will be a great additional tool for Local Authorities, above and beyond what they are already doing to identify potential increases in rateable value. Nobody else is offering this type of all-in-one automation and I would expect our clients to realise value from it immediately, increasing revenue for the Authority whilst ensuring accuracy within their area and providing much needed additional revenue.”  

One Local Authority is already piloting the solution and results from the proof of concept will be made available in the New Year.

Duncan Guthrie, VP Sales from Cyclomedia concludes…

“we are excited to be working on this new venture with Destin Solutions and WHE combining in one solution their expertise and software with our high quality data and AI algorithms to detect changes enabling way more efficient and accurate property inspections and assessments.”

About Destin Solutions Limited (www.destin.co.uk)

Destin Solutions is an award-winning data analytics and business intelligence solution provider, helping Councils unlock customer data held across different systems and departments by consolidating all datasets in a single, secure web portal. We specialise in supplying Local Authorities and Enforcement Agencies with technology that maximises revenue, optimises debt collection, identifies fraud and error and streamlines workflow processes.

Experts in unlocking hidden data we provide;

• The largest consolidated set of pooled ratepayer data in England
• The first ever automated missing commercial and domestic property finder
• Remote property inspection and workflow applications
• Debt reporting, financial insight and analytics
• Performance management dashboards

About Wilks Head & Eve (www.wilks-head.co.uk)
Our Revenues Assurance programme provides a leading edge rates retention service for Billing Authorities, at the most competitive rates available in today’s market.

Providing a unique, unrivalled end-to-end service undertaken by experienced valuers, we have helped over 150 Local Authority clients with support and advice in a number of areas. Now incorporating NEXUS Professional, WHE using a number of datasets are able to easily identify missing or undervalued assessments and working with Authorities can increase the yield for an Authority significantly.

Another key element of the service is forecasting of losses on appeals, where we have proven to be 80% more accurate than competitive offerings by analysing the appeals and rating list to forecast on potential losses.

About Cyclomedia (www.cyclomedia.com)

Cyclomedia captures data from the real world and transforms it into valuable insights enabling you to understand the complexities of the environment around you.  With the world’s most accurate 360°street-level visualizations, enhanced by innovative, AI-powered analytics, Cyclomedia delivers actionable insights that you can use today in order to build a better tomorrow.

The petabytes of data that we collect every year are used by “professional users”, ranging from city governments to large corporates in utilities, telco and infrastructure. Their one common denominator is their need for better data and information to drive change and serve their citizens and customers.

Today our solutions make cities safer, greener, more accessible and smarter, helping cities to make the right decisions based on actual and accurate data.

For further information on this press release please contact:

Tracy McAvoy
Destin Solutions Limited
Marketing Director
tracy.mcavoy@destin.co.uk
+44 (0)7769 153978