Why CX should be at the core of ESG strategies in real estate?  A recent seminar held by RealService/GRESB and hosted by Canary Wharf Group put the spotlight on the issues and opportunities of ESG in our sector.  This article explores how landlords in the build-to-rent sector can harness ESG principles during apartment viewings, focusing on creating sustainable communities. Additionally, we delve into the role of mystery shopping in refining the presentation of these four principles. In the dynamic real estate landscape, the build-to-rent (BTR) sector has gained significant traction, providing a unique opportunity for landlords and operators to pioneer sustainable living. As the demand for environmentally conscious living spaces continues to rise, incorporating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations into build-to-rent apartment viewings becomes both a responsible choice and a strategic one.  Here are four areas for your lettings team to impress prospective customers. Subtly done and in an informative yet casual way, will convey the essence of your brand message: 1. Sustainable Construction and Design Build-to-rent properties have the advantage of being purpose-built, allowing for the intentional integration of sustainable construction and design elements. During apartment viewings, landlords can highlight features such as energy-efficient appliances, eco-friendly building materials, and innovative design that maximises natural light and ventilation. Emphasising these aspects not only showcases a commitment to environmental sustainability but also enhances the overall living experience for tenants. Audits can be instrumental in evaluating how effectively sustainable construction and design messages are communicated during viewings. Feedback can reveal whether potential tenants perceive and appreciate the thoughtfulness behind the property’s construction and design choices. 2. Community Well-being and Social Connectivity Build-to-rent developments often prioritise creating communities rather than just individual living spaces. Apartment viewings allow the brand to showcase communal areas, recreational spaces, and social initiatives contributing to community well-being. Landlords can emphasise social connectivity by highlighting events, communal gardens, or shared workspaces within the development. Mystery Shopping can assess the effectiveness of conveying a sense of community well-being during viewings. Evaluators can provide insights into whether the communal aspects resonate with potential tenants and if they perceive the property as a place that fosters social connectivity. 3. Smart Technology Integration The build-to-rent sector is well-positioned to integrate smart technology solutions that enhance sustainability and convenience. Landlords can showcase features such as smart thermostats, energy-efficient lighting systems, and digital amenities that contribute to a more sustainable and tech-savvy living environment. These elements not only align with ESG principles but also appeal to the preferences of modern tenants. As before, listening to the letting agent’s sale pitch can evaluate how clearly information about intelligent technology integration is communicated during apartment viewings. Feedback can reveal whether potential tenants see the value in these technological features and whether they perceive them as contributing to a more sustainable and efficient lifestyle. 4. Sustainable Transportation and Accessibility Build-to-rent developments often prioritise convenient locations with access to public transportation, reducing the reliance on private vehicles. Landlords can highlight proximity to transit hubs, bike-sharing facilities, or walking-friendly amenities during apartment viewings. Emphasising sustainable transportation options aligns with ESG principles and appeals to tenants prioritising eco-friendly commuting. Mystery Shopping can assess the effectiveness of communicating sustainable transportation options during viewings and subtly highlight the various advantages. Evaluators can provide feedback on whether potential tenants perceive the accessibility and transportation features as integral to the property’s commitment to sustainability. Conclusion In the build-to-rent sector, incorporating ESG principles into apartment viewings is not just about showcasing individual units; it’s about creating sustainable communities that resonate with the values of modern tenants. By highlighting sustainable construction, community well-being, smart technology integration, and transportation accessibility, landlords and operators in the build-to-rent space can set a new standard for responsible living. Mystery Shopping becomes a valuable tool in refining the presentation of these principles, ensuring that potential tenants see the value and feel inspired to be a part of a community that prioritises sustainability in every aspect of daily living. As the build-to-rent sector evolves further, embracing ESG principles during apartment viewings becomes a cornerstone in shaping the future of sustainable and thriving communities. Contact us to learn how to benefit from our UK-wide operating team, how to compare your assets’ performance and see significant data-driven performance trends. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *Comment or Message Submit

Understanding Net Promoter Score (NPS): The Net Promoter Score (NPS), a metric that gauges customer satisfaction and loyalty, is central to the success of build-to-rent developments. In the dynamic landscape of the real estate industry, the build-to-rent sector has emerged as a powerful player, reshaping how people experience and perceive rental living. This essay is part of the MORICON Mystery Shopping Insight initiative, a series of articles focusing on brand excellence and performance improvement in apartment viewings. However, achieving a high  (NPS) is not a mere outcome of the construction process; it involves a nuanced understanding of resident experiences. When customers experience bad or good services, they often tend to share their experiences with friends and social media. Enter mystery shopping, a strategic tool that can significantly influence and elevate the NPS in the build-to-rent sector. What is Mystery Shopping in Build-to-Rent: Mystery shopping involves the deployment of undercover evaluators to assess the customer experience within a given environment. In the context of build-to-rent, this translates to understanding the resident journey. These undercover evaluators, often potential tenants, provide invaluable insights into various touchpoints — from the initial inquiry to the move-in process and ongoing residential experiences. Impact on Net Promoter Score: Enhanced Customer Experience: Mystery shopping acts as a catalyst for improved customer experience by pinpointing areas for refinement. The feedback gathered through this process sheds light on potential pain points and allows build-to-rent operators to proactively address issues, ensuring a seamless and positive resident journey. As customer satisfaction increases, so does the likelihood of a higher NPS. Operational Excellence: The insights gained from mystery shopping empower build-to-rent operators to fine-tune their operational processes. Addressing inefficiencies from leasing procedures to maintenance responsiveness contributes to a more efficient and resident-friendly living environment. This operational excellence directly correlates with increased resident satisfaction, positively impacting NPS. Aligning Services with Expectations: Mystery shopping provides a valuable perspective on whether the services align with resident expectations. Understanding and meeting or exceeding these expectations creates a sense of trust and satisfaction among residents, leading to higher NPS scores. Continuous Improvement: The iterative nature of mystery shopping encourages a culture of constant improvement. By regularly assessing and refining processes based on feedback, build-to-rent operators can stay ahead of evolving resident preferences and industry trends, ensuring sustained high NPS scores. Differentiation in a Competitive Market: In a market saturated with build-to-rent options, delivering an exceptional resident experience becomes a key differentiator. Mystery shopping identifies areas for improvement and helps build-to-rent operators stand out in a competitive landscape, attracting and retaining residents who are more likely to contribute positively to the NPS. Conclusion: Mystery shopping is not merely a process of evaluating existing systems; it is a strategic initiative that can redefine the success trajectory of build-to-rent developments. By focusing on the resident journey and leveraging feedback to drive continuous improvement, build-to-rent operators can elevate their Net Promoter Score, fostering a community of satisfied residents who are loyal and advocates for the brand. In the ever-evolving real estate landscape, mystery shopping is a powerful tool, unlocking the door to sustained success in the build-to-rent sector. Contact us to learn how to benefit from our UK-wide operating team, how to compare your assets’ performance and see significant data-driven performance trends. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *Comment or Message Submit

Understanding Mystery Shopping: The build-to-rent (BTR) sector has witnessed a remarkable surge in popularity as the demand for rental housing continues to grow. BTR operators must distinguish themselves and build a strong brand presence in this dynamic landscape. One innovative and effective strategy that can significantly benefit BTR operators is the incorporation of anonymous audits during apartment viewings. This essay explores how frequent audits can enhance brand value and contribute to the overall success of build-to-rent operators. This essay is part of the MORICON Mystery Shopping Insight initiative, a series of articles focusing on brand excellence and performance improvement in apartment viewings. A secret shop or audit evaluates the quality of service a business offers by deploying anonymous individuals to act as potential customers. In the context of BTR, the anonymous audit involves sending trained evaluators to participate in apartment viewings as prospective tenants. This process allows operators to gain valuable insights into the customer experience, identifying strengths and areas for improvement in their service delivery. Building Trust and Customer Confidence: One of the primary advantages of incorporating such audits in the apartment viewing process is its ability to build trust and instil confidence in prospective tenants. The person posing as a potential renter, assesses various aspects, such as the property’s cleanliness, the staff’s professionalism, and the accuracy of information provided during the viewing. Positive experiences during these interactions contribute to establishing trust, a crucial element in the decision-making process for potential tenants. Identifying Areas for Improvement: Such auditing is a powerful tool for BTR operators to identify and rectify any shortcomings in their service delivery. Evaluators can provide detailed feedback on aspects like communication effectiveness, response time, and the overall impression of the property. This constructive feedback enables operators to refine their customer service processes, ensuring a seamless and satisfying experience for future tenants. Enhancing Brand Consistency: Consistency is critical in building a strong brand. Testing the standards and processes allows BTR operators to evaluate whether their brand values and standards are consistently maintained across different properties and interactions. Ensuring a uniform and positive brand experience at every touchpoint contributes to brand loyalty and positive word-of-mouth marketing. Competitive Advantage: In a competitive market, setting oneself apart is crucial for success. The audit provides BTR operators with a competitive edge by allowing them to understand the strengths and weaknesses of their competitors. By benchmarking against industry standards, operators can adapt and innovate, ensuring that their offerings stand out in the eyes of potential tenants. It also de-risks the viewing process by creating an ongoing set of data points which allow a constant finetuning of operational standards. Conclusion: In conclusion, mystery shopping during apartment viewings is a strategic and beneficial practice for build-to-rent operators aiming to establish a strong brand presence. By focusing on building trust, identifying areas for improvement, ensuring brand consistency, and gaining a competitive advantage, BTR operators can create a positive and lasting impression on potential tenants. As the rental housing market continues to evolve, the integration of anonymous standards audits will be an invaluable tool in shaping the success and sustainability of build-to-rent operations. Contact us to learn how to benefit from our UK-wide operating team, how to compare your assets’ performance and see significant data-driven performance trends. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *Comment or Message Submit

How leading operators and landlords reap the 10 benefits of Mystery Shopping The hotel industry has been using this incredible straightforward process for decades to ensure that hotel teams follow the standards, understand procedures, and avoid costly service delivery mistakes. What could be better than getting first-hand information on your business’s performance from the people that are your customers? With a mystery shopping programme, you take control of the vital customer and brand experience and enable your team to stay ahead of market trends to deliver the best results. Let’s look at the benefits of a mystery shopping programme for your organisation and its impact on the customer journey. Typically, the audit process has the most impact during your customers’ consideration and decision-making phase. During the awareness phase, potential customers get familiar with your brand and learn about your product. Having done all the research, your potential customers become prospective customers, as they want to engage directly with your team and product: they come for a viewing. They hope to match their expectations with a positive experience, and based on a successful visit, they move into the decision phase and sign a contract. In this phase are many critical touchpoints to turn prospective customers into paying clients supporting your brand – or away should you get them wrong. So, what are the benefits of such a programme, you ask? Firstly, it increases your team’s efficiency: you frequently get the big picture of customer interaction and based on the findings, you can finetune processes to improve them. Furthermore, it helps your fact-finding and experience improvement activities to get feedback and reliable information on what you think is a smooth process. You like to know how your sales team performs – not on paper, but live: Do they sell passively or aggressively? Are they in tune with the customers? Do they care? Do they possess the proper knowledge? How is your building maintained? How does your lobby reflect on the customer? Sometimes we are professionally blinkered to minor defects – but the building itself is your calling card for good management and brand operations. You want to test the functionality of implemented processes and standards – just because they have been implemented doesn’t mean they are helpful. When was the last time you took a tour of your building? Good results can be a great motivational tool for your team – celebrate high scores and good comments, bringing the customer experience closer to them. Mirror, mirror on the wall…An audit makes your team aware of what is essential in serving your customers, don’t take a blind eye to be in your customer’s shoes. Results allow you to benchmark internally, across your company, to share and improve. Competitively, by studying your competitors’ practices and results, you can gain a competitive edge. Strategically, if you compare yourself with world-class organisations and use the inspiration to move your business to the next level. A frequent audit programme allows you to train your team in a new way: with nearly real-time information, you can course-correct and improve much faster and more agile than waiting for a standard training block delivered once or twice a year. Lastly, think about your customers! With constant improvement and reviews, you make your brand understood; you match the customer’s expectations of your brand, rewarding you with loyalty and retention. Think of the Ritz-Carlton Hotels – the only two-time winner of the Malcolm Baldridge Award of Quality in the service industry: The award cemented Ritz-Carlton’s business as an eminent service organisation, not only internally by increasing revenues considerably but also externally as a benchmark for exemplary services. Contact us today to discuss how you can reap the 10 benefits of mystery shopping for your customers and your team! Let the team of MORICON Mystery Shoppers provide you with unbiased data to make the right decisions! Meet us at UKAA Annual Conference on 15th November 2022 Sebastian will be part of a panel discussion (Session 5 at 1.30 pm “Lead to Lease – are you getting it right”?) highlighting the benefits of Mystery Shopping audits and presenting his company as an exhibitor. Please visit us at Stand No. 3

Mystery Shopping – Black Ops or Best Practice? How great operators get the most out of this service. Many businesses test their employees to understand how their standards work, their level of knowledge, customer focus, and service skills via mystery shoppers. Information gathered discretely and constructively by operators posing as customers provide businesses with a documented snapshot of a customer-business interaction. Companies use this information to course-correct their operations and often as training tools. So far, so good, but this primarily applies to the hospitality sector and high street operators – what about the BTR sector? Black Ops or Best Practice? Mystery Shopping often conjures images of secrecy, deception and borderline clandestine operations.  Hence, businesses often shy away from utilising this service, fearing that it will upset the employees, cause disruption, and be a costly but useless tool. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mystery shopping has existed since the late 1940s – it originally started in the US to measure employee performance and general service or product delivery. Banks and department stores used this service to understand employee-customer interactions better. What began as an on-the-shop-floor interaction grew into a multi-assessment tool, reporting on the many ways businesses are in contact with their customers: Social Media (communication and response times) Telephone (response times, rapport building) Face-to-face (in person or via video recording) Website (user-friendliness, navigation, branding) Email (timeliness, content, rapport building) There are many more criteria, but you get the point: this is a full MOT inspection of your business. You do take care of your car, don’t you? : MOT, service intervals, a wash now and then, etc. – why not do this at your business? There are so many benefits for you, your team and your business to not look at Mystery Shopping. A bit of theory… The principle behind the best practice approach is relatively old: it started in the 1920s with work on industrial quality by the American statistician Walter A. Shewhart. His work influenced a fellow mathematician and statistician – Edward Deming. He invented the Deming Cycle of Quality, a standard quality control tool, also known as the PDSA Cycle. The following graphic shows a typical PDSA cycle and its four stages: Plan, Do, Study and Act. The company plans what process needs to change and follows a prescribed path of evaluation, data gathering, testing, analysing and summarising the outcome. The crucial last step is to act on what comes next: what needs to change and to start another cycle to verify the processes continuously. The secret lies in the ongoing activity of using the  PDSA approach to eliminate pain points in your operation. Mystery Shopping as benchmarking tool BTR The BTR sector is very similar to the hospitality industry: it depends heavily on human interaction to sell your community or brand, with many moving parts influencing the outcome. A regular audit programme allows BTR operators to stay on top of how they market their business and shape customer interaction whilst getting first-hand insight into the customer perception of their business. One can learn from organisations such as Ritz-Carlton Hotels that took quality control to new heights: the only two-time winner in the service category of the prestigious Malcolm Baldridge Award. The award cemented Ritz-Carlton’s business as an eminent service organisation, not only internally by increasing revenues considerably but also externally as a benchmark for exemplary services. The legendary “Green Book” remains the best practice bible for high-quality, focused operators. To get the most out of embarking on an audit programme should be carefully evaluated: what processes need improvement, what changes to the customer journey need tweaking, and what is the timeframe for it? It makes no sense to have one or two snapshot audits – they can only reflect a point in time, similar to tossing a coin. Only with a planned approach will you understand if measured behaviour is systemic or simply a random occurrence. Whatever you decide, rest assured that you are embracing a best-practice approach that yields many benefits to your business and your customers. Meet us at UKAA Annual Conference on 15th November 2022 Sebastian will be part of a panel discussion (Session 5 at 1.30 pm “Lead to Lease – are you getting it right”?) highlighting the benefits of Mystery Shopping audits and presenting his company as an exhibitor. Please visit us at Stand No. 3 and find out if Mystery Shopping is black ops or best practice!

Understanding your customer journey is your best strategy – they did their homework, but did you? Here are just a few touchpoints that you should be aware of: Ease of booking – how fast can you make an appointment, and how often does your team have to email back and forth to gather all the criteria you require for a lettings contract? Are you listening? Do you use some information obtained during the initial contact to create a rapport with the customer? How often are you in contact before the viewing via phone or email? Are you sending a courtesy email with brand-relevant information before a viewing? When the customer arrives, who will likely be your brand’s first person to meet them? What is in place to make your customers welcome and expect? Have you “choreographed” and rehearsed your lettings tour? Do you provide a complete picture of your brand offering, or are you “winging” it? What happens after the viewing? Is your team following up on any requests and checking if the customer is ready to move to the final step?   The reality can be quite different, and that’s where the Mystery Shopper provides operators and landlords with crucial insight. How do you know that during the many contacts with your brand, the prospective customer is happy, still engaged, and the recipient of curated and targeted information that ultimately leads to a signed contract? Unless you are eavesdropping, you must rely on your team’s input, their interpretation of your brand, and their attempt to convert the viewing into a sale. Each day dozens of prospective customers are in contact with your brand to find a new home. Before they contact you, much research has gone into their planning. They pinpointed the desired location, evaluated comments from industry websites such as HomeViews, calculated their budget, planned their timelines, and are now directly engaged with your brand. They want to find out what life looks like in your building, the community they will live in, the amenities they enjoy, etc. In short, they are ready to test your brand promise! They visit your website, select their top one or two choices of apartments and book a viewing. Soon after, they meet your lettings team, visit your property, sign the leasing contract, move in and live happily ever after! Sounds too good to be true, but is it? Mystery Shopping has been a well-known best-strategy approach in the hotel industry for decades, and the build to rent sector will equally benefit from this approach. An audit allows operators to benchmark, course-correct when and where required, and offer a much better customer experience. With the rental market still favouring landlords, you might not think this is a necessary step, but as soon as the market swings around, old practices and behaviour can catch you off guard. It is tough to switch old habits quickly, and in a tenant-led market, you need all the advantages over your competitors.   According to the British Property Federation, in Q2/2022, a total of 47764 units are currently under construction across England – when they enter the market, your team should be ready! Acting on customer intel is the best strategy A Mystery Shopper will report on the entire customer journey, how they feel interacting with your team and brand and how well your brand promise meets their expectations. Based on receiving frequent feedback, you can consistently fine-tune your processes and standards to become (which is not only the best strategy forward, but also the best practice) more efficient in your booking process more service-focused when welcoming your customers to the property optimise your qualifying techniques to offer a targeted selection streamline your tours and focus on the essential parts of your customer journey  MORICON Mystery Shopper can be your eyes and ears on the ground – our team works throughout the UK and acts fast to test and report, allowing you to improve your customer and brand experience, audit by audit!  Don’t let the customer down on your brand promise! Manage the discovery part of the customer journey to reach a successful conclusion and reap the benefit of this best strategy approach: a signed lettings contract!

What is Mystery Shopping? According to the Collins dictionary, a mystery shopper  …” is someone hired to pose as a customer and report on the quality of service received and how well a store or chain of stores is being run. The person poses as a regular customer and is given a specific task, such as purchasing a particular product or asking specific questions.” Brand loyalty in BTR does not necessarily mean having the best price but consistently fulfilling and exceeding tenant expectations. Staying connected to the customer experience is always challenging; however, consistently delivering standards and services is vital to keeping your tenants engaged and enthusiastic about your brand. Why would  Mystery Shopping add value in Build to Rent? In many buildings, tenants encounter a staffed lobby managing amenity areas. Contrary to hotels or retail organisations, not all buildings have an on-site management level present all the time. So, how do you know that all your standards are used in customer interactions? A mystery shop will assist landlords in evaluating how well the standards are executed and how the site team interacts with tenants and prospective tenants. An audit will provide a measurable and actionable plan to improve services where and when needed while keeping the customer experience front and centre. What are Mystery Shopping Benefits? 1. Increase Efficiency: Mystery shopping can be used to monitor and measure service performance and to see if standards are met. That responsibility might fall to individual site managers, but they might be so familiar with their buildings that blind spots have formed. The audit allows you to get the big picture as well as the individual performance of your employees. The report is the start for driving operational efficiencies through training, re-alignment or added standards. 2. Helps you to get feedback from the customer’s perspective: Use mystery shopping programs to get reliable, specific, and quality feedback from a tenant/prospect tenant’s point of view. This can help highlight particular areas you might want to test, such as experience, satisfaction, and brand perception. It helps to tackle “blind spots” of on-site management as this happens after longer service periods. 3. Gives you feedback about team performance: Is the staff professional, has product knowledge and cares about the customer? Are they appropriately dressed? Do they take care of public areas?  Did the staff acknowledge the customer entering the building by smiling or greeting them, or was the customer ignored? And so on! It shows you how your employees act when managers are not around. Are the lobby and amenity areas kept clean when no manager is around? Are employees using their mobile phones in front of the customers? Are standards and legal requirements met? 4. Monitors facility conditions as perceived by the customer: Is the environment of the building neat? Is the landscaping in and around the building appealing? In what condition is the show apartment? Mystery shopping programs are all about answering these questions, specifically aimed at the needs and issues faced by the residential industry. 5. Tests the functionality of internal procedures and SOPs: Sometimes, businesses implement top-down standards and procedures that may not have the desired effect when they reach individual building levels. One of the benefits of mystery shopping for BTR is that businesses can use it to test how new operational procedures work – or, indeed, if they work at all – at the building level. 6. Serves as a motivational tool for your employees: Using incentives and reward programs as part of a good mystery shopping program can ensure positive employee relationships on the frontline. Managers can use a range of KPIs fuelled by the audit for staff motivation, learning and development. 7. Make your employees aware of what is essential in serving customers: When mystery shoppers come into the building, they act like real customers. They are trained to ask specific questions and look for certain things in behaviour, products, and the building itself. The simple act of having someone ask those questions – and later, be able to highlight the areas in need of improvement in the following store meeting, for example – can help employees become aware of how the customer wants to be serviced. Roleplaying as a post-audit review might add an element of fun and learning. 8. Benchmark within the organisation or with competitors: Competition in the BTR industry is intense. Knowing how the competition performs, what they are doing, and what behaviour is towards customers can help you find out where you stand and can help you improve! This also allows you to benchmark internally with properties, opening further opportunities regarding motivation, rewards, and development of your teams. 9. Identifying training needs: All the above elements can lead to an awareness of areas that need improvement, particularly in staff training. How can we become more efficient? How could the employee be of more help to the customer? This then enforces employee integrity and knowledge, which will help to retain your team for longer. 10. Improved Tenant Retention: Every mystery audit benefit leads to the super benefit: Tenant Retention. Every improvement you make in your business because of the actionable insights gained from a mystery shopping program leads to better tenant service, leading prospective tenants to choose your company over the competition and attract new tenants. Conclusion The tangible elements of your customer service, such as delivery-as-promised, are not too difficult to measure and correct if required. It is the intangible elements that are more tricky, but it is these that are most important to your customers. Elements such as: How did the service they received compare with the service they expected? How much do they trust you and your product? How does your customer service compare with that of your competitors? How much loyalty do they feel towards you because of their last transaction? How much do they feel you value them as a customer? How much do they feel they are treated like a person? If you think your business needs more

The impact of COVID-19 on BTR sector In this last instalment of the series, Sebastian Moritz – Director of MORICON, will look at the impact COVID-19 had on the industry. What are the effects for tenants, property owners and investors and what are possible solutions. Closing this article, he looks at the sustainability of the BTR model, the financial considerations and processes. MORICON Consultants shares thoughts on the Build to Rent market in the UK over a series of 5 short articles. The topic was part of the IRPM Build to Rent Level 4 course assignment and reflects only the authors’ opinion. 1.   Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on our business The current pandemic will create a shift in the rental market – for businesses as well for tenants that was unprecedented. Covid-19 caused more of a massive impact than felt during the financial crisis in 2008 or SARS in 2003. 1.1. Effects for Tenants The financial impact will have several facets: tenants being furloughed or made redundant will impact their rent payments[i]. Once the government’s ban on evictions on August 23rd[ii] (extended from 25th June via MHCLG) is expired, the market must make some difficult decisions[iii] – especially for younger tenants: will evictions be the norm or is the industry opting for a phased payment model similar to the commercial tenants? There is however a sentiment that the situation is not that desperate: the Home Let Rental Index reported, that despite COVID-19 rents in UK grew in May, except for London and Northern Ireland.[iv] In the last statistics from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the level of rents have risen to the highest level ever[v] – which will create a many tenants vying for a decently prices accommodation and thus creates a new higher barrier to rent. 1.2. Impact for Landlords  people leaving or moving from jobs shared accommodation in favour of single units students moving back home changes in work patterns result in more work from This all has created a sharp increase of rental applications and movement on the market. How someone is looked after in a time of crisis will be remembered and capturing this insight and sentiment from residents now will be powerful for longer-term brand reputation and loyalty. Now is a good time to be speaking to residents, getting feedback, and making sure residents’ needs are met.  How property owners deal with rent-arrears, repairs, customer satisfaction etc. will have significant impact on their cashflows but also on their reputation and perception in the market. Making the most of your property’s amenities can also help to create a better functioning community for the building. This helps strengthening the income stream because of reluctance to move away and enjoy more referrals that way. Lastly – the traditional high street agents will struggle with marketing and conversion operating the “old way”. A well-rehearsed virtual walk-through and subsequent advertising on social media will confirm the growing shift from outdoor above the line (AIL) to online through the line (TTL) campaign via social channels. 1.3 Effects for Investors The latest research from Property Hub has revealed, that 98% of property investors still consider property to be a good long-term investment. Many investors ride out the challenges, but others are eager exploiting new market conditions. With 80% saying they are likely to invest over the next six to 12 months, compared to the 19% who have shelved their plans for the time being. [vi] The survey continues that only 6% of investors surveyed expected rental values to drop, while 19% are expecting an increase. While the report initially thought investors might start to have a bias towards income-generating properties, this indicates their strategies might not change at all and investors will still be in two categories. Those who invest primarily for capital growth (long-term) and those who invest for income – although there are those who combine the two. The BLT property owner on the other side is more under siege: falling rents, unemployment, lack of suitable BLT mortgage products – those with over-extended borrowing might be forced to sell.[vii] 1.4 Solutions Investors / Owners can combat this pressure in adapting to the new market conditions, by: Reviewing building design: smaller communal spaces in favour or work pods, fast and stable internet infrastructure, creating of rentable mini-offices Access different sources of credit: think about REITS, establishing closed-end fonds to secure capital, researching new loan structures[viii] Perfecting the sales process: well-rehearsed and choreographed virtual viewings, simplifying contracts, implementation of digital signature tools to close deals faster and with confidence in technology. Reworking current standards and communication protocols: enable tenants to be fully informed, being close to your tenants means keeping them in the building, establishing fast customer feedback and problem resolution mechanisms to demonstrate you care. Revisiting sites that benefit from PDR regulations and that are currently valued less due to pressure on the office retail market. Negotiating pro-actively with tenants: it is better to agree a planned rent-payment schedule, deferral schemes and rent-holidays on your terms, than accepting insolvency of tenants, long void periods and additional overheads. Employing higher BREEAM standards to lower operating costs and to attract clients – this will be mainly around air-filtration and general sanitation/hygiene equipment.   2.   Is the BTR model sustainable? Whilst there is no dispute that the property market is going through a significant shift, there are a lot of opportunities to invite long-term investment. Investment returns in property performed reasonably well in the last 30 years. This was especially true during 2000 – 2014, when the stock market was very volatile (9/11, SARS, Financial Crisis, etc.). Therefore, it has always been a part of a diversified portfolio. 2.1. Financial Considerations If you move your company into a REIT structure that can be traded like shares, you can increase your portfolio and access to cash. This is especially advantageous through the continued dividend re-investment. For self-financed projects, the government’s HCA Built to Rent Funds 1 and 2 and the debt guarantee scheme for PRS are avenues to