Welcome back to the UK Build to Rent Q&A series. For over 3 months we have been sharing the responses to our Q&A’s with Build To Rent’s leading industry experts. This week, we’re back with our final management focused Q&A with Dan Brooks, Director of Operations at Moda Living.
Moda is the UK’s fastest growing housing brand pioneering positive change in the residential space and setting a precedence in the Build to Rent (“BTR”) sector with its Next Generation Neighbourhoods.
We are making a meaningful and sustained contribution to addressing the UK’s housing crisis with the provision of high quality professionally managed rental homes which are becoming increasingly popular as people adapt to a new Covid-19 way of living. Our Next Generation Neighbourhoods are innovative, pioneering and technology-enabled residential neighbourhoods focused on creating supportive, inclusive, and intergenerational communities. We provide exceptional new places via adaptive building design, extraordinary public realm and the provision of amenity rich facilities which are accessible to all the residents of our new homes with health and well-being at the heart of our approach.
About
- Director of operations and one of Moda’s founding team.
- 18+ years in property and development across different sectors
- Focus and passion for residential and living sectors
- Responsible for team management, design development of projects , setting up and overseeing the launch of Moda Life.
- Current focus: talent mapping the growth of Moda, driving the technology strategy of the management platform, and ensuring the team is focused on future planning of assets, and ensuring the best possible lifestyle experience of residents.
Q: What is the best pound saver for operating cost you’ve seen in your career?
A: Asset management through emerging prop-tech. The contribution tech enablement offers in making buildings operate more efficiently from design stage is significant and will become a major driver in the industry. By designing, installing, and managing a smart infrastructure, and providing data analytics and insight, we can lower maintenance and utility costs, improve residents living experience, and increase the value of our assets long term by making every Moda neighbourhood safer, healthier and more affordable. By integrating previously siloed digital systems such as Wi-Fi, CCTV, access control, IoT, BMS, lighting etc, our buildings become more sustainable. This is a new approach to facilities management – technology first, with remote diagnostics and fix of faults. This actively reduces reactive maintenance site visits, reducing the cost significantly and delivering a big saving on energy, reducing the carbon footprint of our buildings.
Real time data is taken from all systems and presented in single pain of glass. Wellness sensors installed throughout, give real time data on how the building is performing from an environmental point of view which includes improved resident wellbeing. This means we will have greater influence in achieving a net zero carbon energy strategy longer term and ultimately help Moda deliver on our ESG objectives. We will also be able to monitor our ongoing performance against our social and environmental credentials.
Q: What are some things you wish you’d known when first hiring for a developments BTR management team?
A: Managing property is simple but delivering high quality customer service is not. There are lots of good property managers out there that do not deliver on customer service, and lots of great customer centric people that lack property management experience.
We have learnt that it’s easier to teach property management than it is to teach customer service – customer service first is something that is intrinsically part of your personality or it’s not.
The Americans excel at customer service as it is very much embodied in their culture, the same doesn’t apply in the UK and it’s something we are constantly striving to improve.
Q: Who do you see as an outstanding Build to Rent management company and why?
A: We have a huge amount to learn as the sector establishes itself, especially leveraging platform wide data to enhance the customer experience. There are plenty of companies in the States which do this well, facilitated by the fact that they have so much aggregated data to use – they can get very scientific when it comes applying data to new developments because they truly understand their end customers evolving needs. We don’t yet do that in the UK, but it is something Moda is focused on and we are starting to benefit from as our customer base grows. There will be a great deal to learn as sector matures.
Q: What is a unique or quirky management technique that you felt has really worked well within a development?
A: We work very hard to ensure that our staff are trained to be completely multi-functional. I think this sets us apart. It means that individual employees can act as true ambassadors for the management team and the asset, by working across customer experience, leasing and customer service as an intrinsic part of their role.
Q: What do you think will be the separator of top tier management companies in the coming decade?
A: Quality of service is the absolute number one. Some owners and operators are focused purely on letting units as quickly as possible and then running a building as cheaply as possible. Others, like Moda are striving for the best customer experience, and the best lifestyle experience. We believe that by achieving this we will see a greater premium across our platforms. A big part of achieving this means delivering on ESG objectives and embracing technology, as these naturally enhance the customer lifestyle.
Q: BTR management is all about fostering a community within the development – how important is integrating that community feeling to the wider area and how is this currently being achieved?
A: It is fundamental that we really view our buildings as part of the wider neighbourhood and community.
We have a long term vested interest in the communities we invest in and we immerse our brand in the neighbourhood from the moment we break ground; working with local businesses, suppliers, creating jobs, homes and investing in regenerating the wider area as well as working with local charities.
We always seek to work with the best local partners and stakeholders to help establish Moda in the broader community. The MyModa App is a good example of how we connect our residents to the local community, by showcasing independent suppliers to ensure that the culture and spirit of the wider community remains a key part of what our neighbourhoods stand for. Our residents all benefit from relationships with local bars, restaurants and businesses through the app and engage with them quickly and easily.
The MyModa App is exciting because residents can find people with similar interests and break down barriers when it comes to establishing relationships in our buildings. They can share tips on everything from what’s on Netflix to the latest games.
This sense of community has always been a key differentiator for Moda. During lockdown it was crucial that we took the mental wellbeing of our residents’ seriously during an unprecedented time. We were able to move many of our usual activities online to respect social distancing protocol (seminars, fitness classes – some streamed over 20,000 times, cookery, wine tasting etc.) thanks to the App, meaning our Moda community never felt isolated. We also helped residents overcome their concerns about rental payments by offering secure and flexible tenure.
Q: What do you see as the core values that should underpin any management team in a BTR?
A: The foundations upon which our core values and service are based on are trust, reliability and communication. We recognise first and foremost that we have a duty of care to our customers to ensure they are happy and healthy in their home. This level of wellbeing, physical and mental, is something at the forefront for Moda.
That aside we believe in true passion for our product, a deep understanding of the market and to be viewed as a professional landlord who cares. This means a dynamic and flexible management style that continues to evolve as customer needs change.
As mentioned previously, we also understand the fundamental importance of immersing ourselves in the wider communities we are operating in.
Thank you kindly to Dan & Moda for taking the time to provide us with their responses.
Don’t miss our final Q&A next week. We’ll be speaking with Oscar Brooks of Moda regarding sustainability & business longevity.
UK Build to Rent Team
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