BTR tenants are the happiest new build residents in the UK
Choosing a new home is one of the biggest decisions of our lives. What is it really like to live there?
The only people who actually know are the people who live there.
HomeViews collects verified resident reviews for new build homes across the UK, so you can make an informed decision.
HomeViews data now covers 90% of completed rental-only developments in the UK. These 10,000+ carefully verified reviews offer insights across 363 developments and a four-year timespan. This gives the most comprehensive insights available anywhere on the BTR resident experience.
To see the views of residents in BTR developments near you, or in areas you may be considering to live, please see the HomeViews website. Link to www.homeviews.com
What are residents saying about their Build to Rent homes?
For the fourth year running, BTR residents have rated their experience higher across the board than those renting in BTS apartments.
Residents rate their BTR developments higher for the buildings they live in (Design, Location and Facilities ratings), as well as for service-led and perception scores (Value, Management).
Verified resident ratings by category for BTR/BTS tenants
As the graph above shows, the biggest difference between BTR and BTS tenant ratings is for the Management category.
Why is BTR so highly rated?
Discussions around Build to Rent often focus on it being purpose-built and offering great facilities. However, reviews show that it is the outstanding customer service, maintenance, community-building and other aspects of the building management that make BTR such a leap in quality over PRS homes.
Having said that, residents do also rate the design and facilities of BTR apartments extremely highly. Residents appreciate the solutions their buildings provide for working from home, on-site fitness sessions, receiving deliveries, pet ownership and more.
Much like hotels, where reputation and repeat bookings are extremely important, BTR aims to maintain high occupancy and a good reputation. This results in a high level of service and a focus on the resident experience.
Reviewers for top-performing BTR developments on HomeViews often express delight and surprise at how every aspect of their resident experience surpassed expectations. What also comes across is that many people have come to expect a poor level of service and care in the PRS.
How does BTR compare with home ownership?
We compared average ratings from 10,000 of our verified Build to Rent reviews collected over four years. These cover BTR apartments, Single Family Housing, plus rental homes from institutional landlords such as Housing Associations.
Comparing these with average ratings from new build owners, the contrast is stark. Every aspect of the lived experience is rated more highly by BTR residents. And, again, the biggest differentiator is Management.
Home ownership is a common aspiration among renters in the UK, but these ratings show that the reality of owning a home can be far less satisfying than living in a dedicated rental property.
Social Value
BTR does so much more than just provide a return to investors – it regenerates cities and provides employment. BTR has ushered in consumer culture and care to residential real estate in the UK and has nurtured community within its buildings, as well as with the local communities in which it finds itself. It pioneered customer centricity, off-site manufacturing, and brand.
The BTR industry has also been an environmental, social and governance (ESG) pioneer. Though we are still at the early stages of this, the industry is full of people who recognise that value lies in sustainable economic, social, and environmental solutions – and who are working hard to deliver this.
