BY ANNE-MARIE BROWN, FOUNDER AND CEO, LOVE TO RENT
Source: BTR News
Customers looking for a new home now have more choice, but do they know it?
With national growth of 20% in the Build to Rent market in 2019, there are amazing developments now available that can provide quality, security and confidence to customers.
However, from a survey that Love to Rent carried out in 2019, it was revealed that 59% of the British public had not heard of the term ‘Build to Rent’. Additionally, those who had heard of the term (38%), less than a quarter felt they knew what it meant.
We’ve seen a massive amount of work carried out within the industry – on how to deliver Build to Rent homes, the services, the professional management, and the fantastic community and wellbeing benefits that they bring. Costs, programmes, new inventory technology, leasing apps and adapting to new environments have all been considered. Still, the one thing that is missing, the last piece of the jigsaw, is making sure that customers are aware of this additional choice.
The perception of renting to customers is still surrounded by the concept of not being able to make it feel like home. With strict rules on decorating and not having pets, plus the uncertainty of how secure the tenancy is, renting is still seen as a lesser option. Education and promotion of these quality rental homes is needed to enable customers to feel secure with flexible length tenancies, feel at home by decorating, and have a pet if they wish. Finally, customers can feel confident that their home will be professionally managed and maintained continuously and embrace a flexible, fluid lifestyle if that is their choice.
Organisations have spent time and money developing fantastic brands that have a great presence in the areas they are based, but what about the customers who don’t know the brand name and just search for ‘rent’? All of this great work and reputation is then in a sea of Buy to Let properties and the significant differentiating benefits of Build to Rent homes are lost.
These new homes and communities are different. They need a marketplace of their own to be recognised as an additional choice and not diluted by perception and lack of understanding.
Love to Rent is an aggregator website, whose creation came from a very true realisation that the traditional property portals do not differentiate between the institutional Build to Rent product and Buy to Let and other private rented sector homes. It’s all about giving customers choice, helping them explore the many unique benefits that Build to Rent homes have to offer, all in one place with the assurance that only quality, professionally managed properties are marketed on the site.
We are committed to raising the profile of the Build to Rent market and indeed called for a Minister for Renting at the end of last year, which we continue to pursue. With award-winning CRM software powering the granular data collection and workflows, we collect real-time data that can help inform future developments, ensuring the best form of housing is delivered in the correct locations with services that customers want.
It’s a user-friendly portal that helps customers find exactly what they’re looking for, whether that is a lively, sociable community, excellent services, a retirement complex or the chance to downsize and have a flexible lifestyle to enjoy.
LoveToRent is the missing piece of the jigsaw for the Build to Rent market.
If you would like to find out more about AGC’s innovative Build-to-Rent offering, view our new brochure here.
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