Keycafe’s Key Exchange Services Expand Across London

Keycafe is pleased to be expanding services across London, as we continue to add more locations for simplified key exchange in England’s capital. Our SmartBox locations across London enable property managers and home owners to provide access to their properties using their existing keys and an app. Whether they be in Chelsea or in Whitechapel, Keycafe makes it easy to manage a short stay rental, manage a cleaning service, or let in family and friends.

The Keycafe service is evolving to enable professional key management of large volumes of keys both in a distributed public network of key locker systems called “SmartBoxes” and in a privately owned network in buildings and offices. Property management companies and letting agents can easily manage and track their fleet of keys within a single app. A robust API allows for integration into existing PMS software and provides for seamless management with existing systems.  

With a population of over eight million people, London is the largest city in the United Kingdom. A world class city for commerce, fashion, and media, London remains as the world’s most visited city in terms of international arrivals. The city is split into 32 boroughs that have populations around 150,000-300,000 people each. With more international retailers and ultra-high-net-worth individuals compared to any other city in the world, London’s metropolitan area generates about 30 percent of the UK’s GDP.

As the city with the highest amount of Airbnb listings in the world, home sharing and short lets in London have become a massive industry. The city welcomed more than 20 million international visitors in 2018 and has an estimated 50 million overnight visitors each year, making traveller accommodation one of the city’s most competitive markets. Airbnb has been working with the city to enforce London’s short stay regulations and implement further regulation in the future in order to ensure a healthy balance between the city’s residents and the accommodation sharing economy.

London is home to a thriving collection of sharing economy startups that seek to connect and simplify sharing for Londoners. London startup Hassle was acquired by German startup Helpling, which connects cleaners and people across Europe and the United Kingdom while fostering the gig economy. Pop & Rest looks to provide workers and travellers across London’s boroughs with nap and meditation pods that can be booked by the hour. Dogbuddy (which recently became part of Rover) provides complete dog-sitting services, whether you need someone to take care of your dog while you’re on vacation or someone to simply take your pup out for a walk while you’re at work.

Keycafe is there to help provide property access, the missing link for the various sharing economy services. When it comes to letting a dog walker or cleaner access your property, Keycafe makes it easy to share your keys remotely and securely, so that you don’t have to be home to provide access to these services. Our key exchange services enable Airbnb and Booking.com hosts in boroughs like Greenwich, Westminster, and Croydon to easily manage short lets and provide guests with an automated check-in service.

Below is a map of our SmartBox locations around Greater London, where you can drop off or pick up your keys and manage their access using the Keycafe mobile app.

If you live in London and don’t have access to a SmartBox near you, let us know! You can visit our locations page and submit your address at the bottom so we know where to expand our locations next.