In early March, tens of thousands of English homebuyers were still scrambling to complete their purchases before a Covid relief measure on property tax expired. It left Rishi Sunak, the UK chancellor of the exchequer, with little choice: his so-called stamp-duty “holiday” would have to be extended. For advocates of “proptech”, Sunak’s intervention proved a point: property transactions, both commercial and residential, are in desperate need of disruptive digitisation. It could make life easier for everyone: buyers, sellers, tenants and landlords.