In this series, Alex Gooch, Head of Sales at Property Sense, explores the next stage of Build to Rent. In part one, he looks at how the sector can make the journey into renting as strong as the experience once you’re there.
BTR’s biggest opportunity isn’t just more amenities – it’s removing barriers to renting
Having worked within Build to Rent for the best part of seven years, with more than 50 operators across over 300 developments, I've been fortunate enough to watch the sector evolve at quite a pace.
If there's one thing I don't think Build to Rent has a problem with, it's creating great places to live. Walk around almost any BTR development and you'll see how far the sector has evolved. Beautifully designed apartments, gyms that rival private clubs, co-working spaces, lounges, roof terraces, private dining rooms, resident events, 24-hour teams and increasingly sophisticated technology underpinning the experience.
We talk a lot about those things within the industry and quite rightly, but I increasingly think one of the biggest opportunities for the next phase of Build to Rent sits outside the front door. We've spent years improving the experience of being a resident, I think we now need to put just as much thought into the experience of becoming one.
Renters need to know what BTR actually is
Sometimes, I worry those of us working within Build to Rent exist in something of a bubble. We attend conferences, go to awards and our social media feeds are filled with new developments, transactions, investment figures, operational performance and debates about where the sector goes next.
We're very good at talking about Build to Rent with other people who already know what Build to Rent is. I'm not convinced we've been quite as successful at explaining it to everybody else, and that matters because the average renter doesn't necessarily begin their property search thinking, “I'd like to live in a Build to Rent development.”
They know what they actually want. They might want to live ten minutes from work, have a gym, somewhere to work from home, a concierge or a community where meeting other people is easier. They may want the security of knowing there's an onsite team if something goes wrong at 9pm. In other words, they might want everything BTR offers without knowing that the phrase Build to Rent describes it. I was on a resident panel recently, where all of the renters resided in BTR but none originally knew what it was that prior to moving in, but knew what benefits and lifestyle they wanted from their experience.
Research from HomeViews and Rightmove has previously described BTR as an unfamiliar housing format for many UK renters, and their analysis of renter search behaviour shows that most people searching BTR homes are also searching the traditional PRS homes.
That tells us something important. Our competition for the renter isn't just another BTR development down the road; sometimes it's simply the property they understand more easily. So before we talk about making BTR more accessible, I think there's a more fundamental accessibility challenge around visibility and education. The sector needs to become much better at reaching renters before their search is narrowed to a postcode, bedroom number and monthly rent.
