There’s an old saying: “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone”.
With the increased use of the internet over recent years and almost everyone you know using social media daily, the old sense of community in the UK has been in danger of being replaced by a relatively disconnected “virtual community”. In fact, in some ways, people were already beginning to “self-isolate” from others pre-covid as they shuttered themselves away to spend hours on Facebook or other social media talking to virtual “friends” they barely knew.
Yet, with the imposition of lockdowns and associated restrictions on meeting others over the last 12 months or so, the realisation resurfaced that the need for a real community and actual interaction with friends, neighbours, loved ones and the community at large has never been more important.
Fortunately, perhaps, many of the BtR projects already operating, and certainly most new projects, have as one of their stated objectives the goal to create a real sense of community. This has benefits to both the developer and the tenants.
Hence the advancement of BtR as a living concept is likely to receive added impetus across the UK as post-covid as people try to rebuild or establish new real communities and enjoy greater interaction with others. And technology will be at the forefront of helping get people back together.
What brings a community together?
It’s an interesting question about what actually brings a community together, and there is no single answer. It can depend on the demographics, the location of the community and so on but the overriding factors tend to be having a common purpose or goal (often to overcome some mutual hardship or difficulty, such as covid) or common interest (ie enjoy a pleasant living environment with good amenities).
As per WP Event Manager, community events help community members to come together and bond, participate in local activities, raise awareness about particular societal issues, and volunteer their skills to give back to their community.
In BtR developments, building a community is important for the developer and the tenant. For the developer having a “good” community feel will not only attract new tenants but encourages them to stay longer. It also offers an opportunity for the management company to increase their management revenue by offering “value-add” services” or services over the standard ie offering more frequent maid or housekeeping services, albeit at extra cost.
For the tenant, if they enjoy living in a particular BtR development or have several friends living there the tenant retention factor is reported to be as high as 82%.
As an example, tenants of Moda’s new properties, which aim to cater for a wide-ranging demographic, residents will benefit from access to a host of on-site amenities, with mental and physical health and well-being key considerations.
On-site facilities will include gyms and wellness zones, green spaces, roof terraces, communal lounges and workspaces, all included within the rental offering.
What types of community events do BtR companies typically host?
Therefore, there are clearly mutual benefits within BtR developments to have events arranged and hosted by the management team. In some ways, BtR living can be seen as akin to hotel or serviced apartment living where there are on-site support staff (concierge, security) but also event managers to help foster a sense of community.
Of the three larger players in the UK BtR sector, Moda, Vertus and Essential Living, they are all including spaces intended to host community activities and places for meetings or seminars within the developments.
There may be webinars on topics of interest, virtual meetings by Zoom or classes to learn about or participate in yoga or exercise activities. As an example, Moda recently teamed up with Unissu on their global eventplatform for a webinar.
The actual events planned will clearly depend on the demographics and known interests of the tenants.
What technology is being used to create greater awareness about BtR community living?
As you might expect, modern, prospective tenants are demanding cutting edge solutions to make renting easier and better for everyone. Accordingly, the BtR sector has been developing a variety of property tech solutions to meet these demands and create greater awareness about not only the BtR sector but also about the facilities and events available within BtR developments. Some of these include:
Online portals
The BtR sector has been tying up with property tech companies that can help boost its overall visibility. This is because even though the property industry is well aware of the BtR many renters are still not. Movebubble is one platform which has received significant investment from the sector to help promote BtR living.
Idealflatmate has been working with BtR developers to help iron out issues and help streamline the rental process. Lovetorent which lists only BtR properties will also bank data to identify the specific features that BtR customers value most, so better schemes can be built in future. With access to such data, developers will have the opportunity to understand exactly what different people in different areas really want from their property.
Well-being and value-add services
There has been a shift towards technology that can genuinely improve the lives of residents, instead of it being used as a marketing tool with little or no meaningful benefit. For example there might be an app which acts as a mini concierge to do anything from booking a repair of the dishwasher through to arranging storage of your groceries in an onsite cold store, or containing a social calendar of events, classes, cinema screenings and gatherings to meet neighbours;
Rental deposits and other expenses
One of BtR’s key selling points is being convenient and professionally managed, and deposit-free renting can be seen as an added advantage. Flatfair is working with many BtR on a replacement scheme for traditional rental deposits. The idea being that, at the end of a tenancy, the landlord can work out the costs owed and upload these to the Flatfair platform for the tenant to approve and then settle.
The technology allows for transparency, where both landlord and tenant are very clear about costs and expenses at every stage.
Automation of routine tasks
There is a real focus in BtR projects on utilising prop tech to automate building processes and administration, creating operational efficiencies and better enabling operators to deliver a seamless service for customers.
As a result, staff are able to devote more time to enhancing this customer experience and building stronger relationships with consumers.
Systems that automate time consuming processes are needed more than ever to maximise efficiencies, whether this be constructing the buildings or offering full letting and management services technology to make the processes more seamless.
Data collection
Finding premium tenants quickly is clearly very important to a landlord to avoid losing revenue by having vacant units.
Houzen has an algorithm which considers socioeconomic characteristics and willingness to pay for the “added extras” such as a pool or gym or that BtR schemes provide when pairing tenants and properties and is able delivers suitable tenant-property matches, with higher longevity and lifetime value.
Final thoughts
Continued investment in technology can assist in binding a community as the UK heads out of lockdown and, hopefully, to a more normal existence.
Connectivity is the key, linking people with each other they are needed or just lonely; or helping people get better access to the right data to make quicker, more suitable choices; or simply allowing them to schedule their free time better so that they can interact with others in person more frequently.
By virtue of its business model, the BtR sector is uniquely positioned to advance the sense of reinforcement of a community: a better rental “product”, better services and amenities and a better community feel to living collectively.
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