HomeViews Build to Rent Report: A Summary of Resident Reactions

As a People First company first and foremost, resident voices and feedback goes a long way to helping shape our choices and decisions made in interior design and installation. Our success across numerous developments within the Build to Rent (BTR) sector over the years is attributed to understanding residents’ needs and wants and being flexible enough to adapt to changing requirements and trends. That is why HomeViews 2022 National Build to Rent Report is an invaluable asset in understanding the resident experience across the sector.

HomeViews 2022 National Build to Rent Report is a crucial piece of data-driven literature for any stakeholder within the Build to Rent (BTR) or Build to Suit (BTS) as it is formulated from the most important voice across the sectors; the residents. As HomeViews collates 100% independent reviews from residents nationwide, good or bad, we can gain a balanced overview of the BTR/BTS marketplace and understand areas that need improving within it.

3,589 BTR resident reviews across 254 BTR developments were broken into categories to gain a specific understanding of every aspect of the residential experience: Facilities, Design, Location, Value, Repairs & Maintenance, Customer Services, Additional Services & Management. Each category is a huge contributing factor in creating an overall positive experience for residents and these are factors that potential future residents are most interested to hear about.

OVERVIEW OF KEY FINDINGS

This Report offers a rich pool of exclusive primary data that cannot be sourced anywhere else, even on the HomeViews website. Age of Reviewer is a new question HomeViews have introduced to their reviews that allows us to see the leading age demographics that are inhabiting current BTR accommodation across the UK. By understanding the extent of the age demographic, developers and designers can tailor spaces and amenities to fit the interests of the age-range of residents and increase rates of acquisition.

Although the data was collated into this Report for showcasing, it has not been collected from a single time frame. The ratings have been measured over various time frames, for example, the COVID Lockdowns. On HomeViews, BTR’s Value ratings have seen a positive upwards trend over time. However, it is impossible to ignore the dips that correspond with the second and third lockdowns. In the latter part of 2021 Value was back on the up, as the gap between the tenant experience in BTR and BTS widened. Feeling safe and cared for has been a consistent theme in the many positive reviews we have gathered over the past two years. Although COVID may be dwindling compared to the insurgence of the virus over the past two years, this data is still key to telling us many things - how strong the management infrastructure is, how accommodating a development can be and what issues flagged the most for residents over that period. Residents now have the perspective to judge how good a development is from its positives, as well as how it may handle adverse conditions.

Average Facilities ratings for BTR have bounced back since the lockdowns of 2022. A concierge, communal inside space, bike storage and a gym were all facilities that the top 10 rated developments had in common, and not nearly as many of the bottom 10 offered these facilities. This is a crucial aspect for developers as facility offerings is such an integral part of BTR, but if they are offering the wrong ones, residents will not be fully satisfied.

While in Design, ratings for BTR were the highest ever in 2021, and outshone ratings given by BTS tenants for their developments. Larger BTR developments of more than 350 units outperformed smaller developments in this category. The poorest reviews in the bottom 3% predominantly focused on poor-quality fixtures and fittings, which residents said were not built to last.

Location is integral to delivering an authentic BTR experience. It was the highest-scoring review category for both BTR and BTS tenants, however, BTR tenants continued to rate their locations higher than BTS tenants living in similar areas in London. In fact, residents on HomeViews rated regional developments higher than London schemes across every review category.

Interestingly, BTR schemes in Greater Manchester consistently outperform developments in the rest of the UK across every review category. An in-depth look is taken at residents within Greater Manchester within the Report, as it is home to many of the UK’s highest-rated BTR schemes. Main themes that have emerged from resident data are discussed, certified top-rated developments can be found and direct customer feedback of what needs to be improved within a development to improve satisfaction rates are showcased.

NOW, HEAR FROM THE RESIDENTS

Much of the resident data collected for the purpose of this Report is exclusive and cannot be found on the HomeViews website or any other medium. An invaluable asset for anyone within the residential property space to understand what residents truly feel about the sector and the main do’s and don’ts for a BTR development. To gain a further insight into Resident Demographics, Management and Value Ratings, plus much more, download the HomeViews 2022 Build to Rent National Report and fully understand BTR residents’ impressions of the sector over the past year.

Download the full report here.