Welcome back to the UK Build to Rent Q&A series. Join us this week as we share our Q&A focused on the management with Anish Thobhani, Director of Customer Operations, Grainger plc.
Grainger plc is the UK’s largest listed residential landlord and a leader in UK PRS and build to rent. With c.9000 homes in operation and c.8500 in the development pipeline, Grainger is investing £2bn into the delivery of high quality rental homes across the UK.
About
With over 25 years’ experience in residential property, Anish Thobhani, who joined Grainger in 2003, is Director of Customer Operations. Anish is incredibly passionate about great service and innovation and works with his team to develop and deliver an industry leading offering for Grainger’s residents.
Q: It appears that the BtR sector has continued its openness in information sharing to an extent that we haven’t witnessed in other UK property sectors. Why do you think this is and how do we ensure this ethos continues?
AT: Everyone has a shared objective – to drive and improve housing choice and raise standards in the UK rentals market, and in making BtR a popular and viable offering.
The sector is still emerging, and we are all very much in it together and support from organisations such as the BPF and UKAA have enabled this culture of sharing.
Q: What is the USP your management guarantees your tenants / what are some of the USP’s you’ve seen in developments and how would you ensure the message is endorsed through the business?
AT: We are a service focussed, owner operator. Our service offering – built on 100+ years’ experience, puts people at the heart – both for our customers and all our team members.
Our professional and dedicated onsite teams, supported by the Grainger operational platform and bespoke training and development programme; are driving our service experience.
As a renowned operator, Grainger’s long-term commitment and thinking, and the fact that we are often the developer, owner and operator, sets us apart. We are uniquely placed to be able to listen to our customers wants and needs to deliver a consistent customer journey.
The size of our portfolio also helps provide our customers with choice and flexibility – in terms of product and price point – but also location. So customers can move within the ‘Grainger community’ depending on their changing circumstances or lifestyle.
Q: When reviewing a scheme, how do you ensure the health and wellbeing of the tenant is considered and how important will this be to top tier management in 2022?
AT: The health and wellbeing of our residents and colleagues has always been a priority for Grainger and is already an integral component of our scheme designs. From a product perspective, this is reflected through our onsite gym and wellbeing areas, outdoor terraces, courtyards and balconies, pet friendly policies and access to green spaces locally.
From a people point of view, we invest in the wellbeing of our team and provide dedicated training to ensure they are suitably equipped to support residents. With community at the heart of Build to Rent, we run a programme of health and wellbeing resident events, from weekly yoga, to our national health week, a buddy programme, drop-in surgeries, social and fitness clubs.
We continue to strengthen our offering by listening to our customers, understanding their wants and needs and developing a proposition that answers to those, giving them a reason to stay with us for the long-term.
Q: What are some examples you’ve seen of additional tenant incentives that have achieved an increase in rental premium for a development?
AT: I’ve seen lots of examples in the market, but it is still early to evidence the long-term impact and gain of such initiatives. At Grainger, we focus on our key mid-market offering and adding genuine value through providing excellent service and a great rental experience.
Q: Technology within developments and the proptech sector as a whole are growing at an exponential rate. In your opinion, if you had to split the technology requirements within a development into the following 3 sections:
- The bare minimum a BtR should have in 2022
- The current market/business expectation
- The current best in class / tier one developments
What technology / features would you place into each section?
AT: Technology is increasingly important for the sector and continuously evolving with residents well informed on what they expect to see.
As a bare minimum, the expectation is for a customer communication platform or App, Superfast WiFi live on day one, electric charging points, and the ability to complete the leasing journey online.
From a market perspective, the expectations are evolving, and businesses are now looking to elements including more self-service options, keyless entry, data capture points, co-working and video conferencing solutions, with wireless charging facilities to create the working from home environment.
Moving to best in class, you’re looking at the use of smart technology to track energy, water usage, predictive management, home automation and smart appliances. With a greater focus on data analytics and customer insights to proactively respond to trends and customer requirements.
Q: We have seen a rise in health & wellbeing amenities being offered to tenants. How do you think these can be provided at a manageable cost to the investor? And, how do you think we can measure this?
AT: It’s all about knowing your customer – understanding their wants and needs and creating spaces and events that answer to them.
We always try to create amenity spaces that will be well used and add genuine value to our residents. If residents feel they’re getting value and benefit, they’ll stay longer, which is the ultimate measure that something works.
We are creating homes and communities that make a difference to our customers and having regular analytics/insights we can continue to evolve the offering.
It’s not just about investing in the physical product though. We know that the more we can provide an opportunity for our team to add value through strong engagement and interaction with residents the better.
So, we focus on finding ways that give the team more time with residents, and more time to deliver excellent customer service and experience.
Q: BtR management has the potential to be an outstanding career choice. How do you think we can educate the right people with the right message on the benefits of being a part of this sector?
- Who are the right people?
- What is the message?
- How do management companies retain them?
AT: There is a real opportunity to better recognise and promote the value of the role – both to the customer and within the sector. We can achieve this by reinforcing it as a professional role with appropriate qualification / accreditation, whilst also demonstrating the clear progression opportunities and career pathways.
The right people are those with the right attitude and an ingrained focus on service and community – people who have the energy and enthusiasm to want to build and maintain a community. We are open to a diverse pool and prioritise attitude over skills.
The message is simple – this is an opportunity to make a genuine difference – to influence how somebody enjoys their home, to help someone make a home, and have a positive impact on their wellbeing. These are exciting times and with the growth of the sector, the opportunities are endless.
Alongside the Grainger Academy, we have developed the Grainger Service Style training that provides all our teams the training and support to be successful in their career at Grainger.
In a competitive market, retention is key – we do this by empowering our people, supporting them and developing them to be a success
A Big Thank You… to Anish Thobhani for taking the time to respond.
If you have any other questions regarding this interview, you can reach out to Grainger plc here.
Our content calendar has enough free space for one or two more contributors to this series. If you feel you would offer value and have experience in build to rent investment, design, management or ESG – contact us here.
Thank you for reading.
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