There are a lot of lessons that the UK private rented sector can learn from the US. Dog-runs adjacent to rooftop running tracks crown some of the most prestigious accommodation for well-heeled residents – for whom renting an apartment is a way of life.
Americans love their dogs and in many “multi-family” rented blocks there is a floor set aside for pets, with some residents owning two dogs per flat.
It wasn’t just the canine capacity that struck me on a trip stateside last month to CBRE’s multi-family housing conference in Chicago. I combined my visit with a tour of seven multi-family housing schemes, and the lessons for the fast-growing UK PRS market are huge.
The biggest difference was the dedicated leasing space within buildings. On entering an impressive foyer (complete with dog biscuits on the concierge desk), you are directed to the leasing office, where dedicated staff are based. They will show you around a model apartment, highlight the amenities and calculate current rents, which change daily based on availability, comparable rents and competing supply.
As well as leasing staff, other employees based in an apartment block include a building manager and 24-hour maintenance staff. If your washing machine breaks down there is a basement full of spare white goods so no one has to wait for repairs.
Social spaces are essential – and there is method in providing these facilities as well as allowing people the chance to let their hair down.
There are many different spaces in which to socialise, including coffee bars, kitchens, media rooms and games rooms, gyms, swimming pools and yoga rooms. What’s more, they are used, as my tour of the facilities revealed.
US research has shown that tenants with one friend in an apartment block are likely to stay there for a year; if they have three friends they will stay on average for four years. It really is the world of Joey, Chandler, Rachel and Monica from Friends.
Because new buildings compete so strongly on their amenity offer, operators were, until recently, offering increasingly diverse and unusual spaces – MiMA in New York has a basketball court in its basement.
However, operators are now becoming more considered and are opting for amenity space that suits a specified demographic. For example, in a family-oriented building there will be indoor play spaces for children. In schemes aimed at younger people there will be a bar on the roof terrace.
For the older demographic I take you back to the rooftop running track with space for man’s best friend.
Another reason social spaces are important is because the units themselves are very small. However, the design more than makes up for the lack of space with great use of light and floor-to-ceiling windows giving high-rise, spectacular views.
Despite the small sizes, the kitchens were not skimped on – all had ample storage and corridors lined with floor-to-ceiling cupboards.
But generally, while the units were kitted out to a good standard, the focus in the US is not on the apartments themselves – it is on the building.
From the tenant’s point of view, you sleep in the apartment and work and play elsewhere in the building. In all schemes a business centre was essential, reflecting the fact that many American big city dwellers work from home up to three days a week.
Does the American multi-family experience work? The sector is now valued at $2.2tn (£1.4tn), and with $112bn of real estate traded last year, it accounted for 31% of all US transactions, just behind offices at 32%.
The figures are incredible, and show the potential for the PRS market in the UK.
All the better if you are a dog-lover constantly being dragged out on a rainy day.
Jennet Siebrits is head of residential research at CBRE
