A “mystery shopping” investigation has revealed a chasm in service and quality between the best and worst of the UK’s biggest build-to-rent schemes.
While the best-rated schemes offered friendly guides, clear incentives and local knowledge, elsewhere visitors were shown around dirty, noisy buildings by rude staff, or were simply ignored.
Between November 2020 and July 2021, SAY Property Consulting instructed a team of professional mystery shoppers from the HereSay platform to pose as prospective customers at 22 BTR schemes from industry leaders including Quintain, Get Living and Grainger.
Shoppers visited each site three times and ranked schemes on customer experience, the quality of offering and whether they would recommend the site.
The guide knew the local area and built some rapport with me by asking what my hobbies are. I explained I like to run and he suggested some running routes for me clearly demonstrating he knew the area
Lendlease’s debut UK scheme Park Central West (pictured) was the winning site. One shopper described the amenity spaces as “a real wow factor”, highlighting the workspace, cinema room, lounge, gym and green spaces. “It’s hard to imagine that all this is tucked away on the New Kent Road,” they said. “It has the feel of a hotel or a members’ club and has been beautifully designed.”
Others in the top five included a range of price points, from Vertus’s 10 George Street in Canary Wharf, E14, to Fizzy Walthamstow, E17. The bottom five schemes were not named.
At every visit to the top five schemes, shoppers reported a friendly guide who built a rapport. This dropped to 53% in the bottom five. Moreover, some 93% of respondents reported a knowledgeable guide in the top five compared to just 33% in the bottom.
Shoppers at the poorest five did not receive a single follow-up after visits. At these schemes, just 33% were told of existing incentives and 17% rated the buildings “very good”. In almost half of visits (47%), the reception was messy and unclean. In one instance, a shopper found dirty fridges and mould.
“Overall, poorly trained staff do little to challenge the image of the unreliable private landlord that BTR developers need to challenge to set themselves apart and justify a premium rent,” said one shopper.
Clearer USPs
Collectively, the 22 schemes received the strongest feedback in terms of pre-viewing bookings, building and flat presentation and the overall development. But the post-viewing experience let schemes down, and value for money was considered below average.
Living by Lendlease charges £1,950 per month for a one-bedroom flat at Park Central West, according to its website. Inside the industry, the high rents are no secret, but the investigation showed customers were not properly told of incentives and what they would get in return for the rent.
Some 65% of shoppers had never heard of BTR and 90% had not heard of the development or developer. After the visits, 60% said they received no explanation from their guides and half of all visits never received a follow-up.
My physical viewing was uninspiring due to difficulty gaining entry and the staff being unprepared for any viewings. It seemed as though I was putting them out
Guides in BTR exhibited a lack of consistency compared to the experience of established, service-led sectors like hotels. Debra Yudolph, partner at SAY Property Consulting, said the approach is “haphazard”, adding that face-to-face training is needed.
“If that happened then these gaps in information during the viewing would stop, there would be a script to follow and they would be much clearer about their USPs, their values and what they demonstrate during the viewing,” she added.
Just 43% of shoppers said they were “very likely” to recommend the scheme they had visited to a friend, 44% were somewhat likely, and 13% said they were unlikely.
Operators should make clear the benefits of a professional landlord, Yudolph said. That goes beyond amenities and services, she added, and includes the security of longer-term tenancies, responsiveness to maintenance and curating a community. “That is a differentiator for BTR,” she said.
Yudolph added that the sector has established the quality of product and how to operate it, and that the next challenge is mastering the customer experience.
“As an industry we’ve been working so hard to establish what the USPs are for BTR and the key messages with planners and the government – if we don’t follow that through with the consumer, that is such a missed opportunity.”
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