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Discerning tenants across the UK now have the power at their fingertips to find the perfect pad. Following the success of its 'reinventing renting' initiative in London, upad (http://www.upad.co.uk) has rolled out its online property rental service nationwide.

Free to renters, upad launched in October 2008, offering tenants in the capital a choice of 60,000 properties. Today, the site launches nationally, enabling renters to choose their ideal property, whether that's a studio apartment in central Manchester, or a five-bedroom house in Brighton.

upad's national debut also sees it embrace social networking, with the launch of several industry firsts. Visitors to the site can link to upad's Facebook group, the 'Rental Surgery', where a team of experts including a solicitor and IFA can answer questions online on issues ranging from capital gains tax to tenancy agreements. Renters and landlords can also share their views and experiences via mini news alerts, discussion boards and RSS blog feeds.

A new Wikipedia (http://www.upad.co.uk/wiki) application provides free information relating to the property rental sector.  As well as searching for material (by words and phrases) individuals and companies will be encouraged to build the upad community by contributing relevant articles and content.

Commenting on upad’s national launch, James Davis, CEO, said:  “Whether someone wants a place to live or to rent out their property, upad makes life easier.  Because property rental is our business we know that as well as good choice of properties, both renters and tenants often need advice and someone to speak to. And that's where options like the Facebook Rental Surgery and the upad Wiki come in – everything people need, all in one place. Despite the importance of social networks in many other walks of life, no online communities existed for landlords and tenants, so we set about changing that.”

And, to mark its national launch, upad is giving away £100,000 in free online advertising. Between 10th and 19th June 2009,  upad will allow almost 1700 ads to be posted at no cost, enabling landlords and estate agents to advertise as many vacant properties as they want free of charge.

-Ends-

Notes to editors

upad (http://www.upad.co.uk) is the UK’s marketplace for property rental. It is a free online service that connects renters to landlords to help them find their ideal property quickly and easily. Launched in October 2008 under the banner 'reinventing renting', the company's innovative approach is aimed at filling a gap in the property rental market.

upad's website deploys bespoke state-of-the-art technology to overcome issues identified by renters such as out-of-date information and poor online experiences.  In particular upad enables online searches that are interactive and intuitive to produce relevant properties.

Free to renters, upad costs landlords £59 per listing.

Read the upad blog at http://www.upad.co.uk/blog/, or follow upad on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jamesATupad, and the upad Rental Surgery on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=531625015.

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