What will make it successful?

It’s a misconception that BTR is the panacea for every housing issue. It just isn’t – but it does fundamentally change the relationship between owner and tenant, to one of mutual benefit.

While there’s no fixed formula of sizes, mix, or facilities, there is consistency in service and quality. Each development must appeal to specific types of people and communities and price scales, to allow people to make it their home for years, and potentially their entire adult lives.

With different apartment types available in a single development, a renter has flexibility to change the size and nature of their housing as their needs change, without having to leave established connections and support networks. The building becomes a neighbourhood and a community – the antithesis of the anonymous and transient apartment building currently dominating the market.

Unlike build-to-sell developments (the prevalent model in Australia) where penthouses are offered at a premium price for private use, the top of the building is reserved as communal space for everyone, often as places simply to hang out – there’s something democratic and beautiful about that.

Changes in work flexibility, accelerated by the extended periods of lockdown, reinforce the importance of attractive communal areas in your building where you can go and work, go and think, or simply disengage.

The case for BTR is rooted in economics

When designing BTR, there’s a shift in thinking. Instead of quick, short term fixes, the drive is to build quality and value across the whole building. Buildings need to age well and demonstrate enduring appeal – they are long term investments and the owners must provide homes that appeal to renters over numerous cycles in their lives. This provides an architecture of good daylight, well-proportioned spaces, natural ventilation, storage, and distinctive character.

BTR demands built value

Unlike build-to-sell where the aim is to increase the immediate sale value, build-to-rent needs to appeal to the wider community and promise to mature and age well over decades. This is the best benefit for cities – that build-to-rent must be designed for the future. The lens of physical appearance and market appeal sharpens beyond the opening day to 10, 20 and 50+ year windows.

Operational energy costs are no longer a marketing or statutory requirement but directly correlate to the profit. The BTR developer asks, “Should I invest in better quality façades, mixed mode ventilation, and making apartments more desirable?” It’s a wonderful shift in focus to how viable and enduring a building can be over time.

Modular construction is a great way to embed quality and whole of life sustainability. The use of modular components facilitates offsite manufacture to reduce waste and vehicle movement, speed up construction, and improve quality. Standardised modular components will positively impact lifetime costs with simplicity of repairs and future upgrades.

In the UK and Germany, housing tenure is blended, and planning and economic policies support the blend with a mix of carrots and sticks. The results over time have been cost effective for developers, and great news for people who – for whatever reason – make a rental property their home.

Secure tenure lets people live where they choose to for as long as they need to, and develop communities that stick together and grow together, with positive impacts on wellbeing. These are villages of long-term residents with demographic diversity.

Variations on the model integrate sliding scales of buy-in allowing tenants to invest in their development, giving them more of a home-owning experience. The debate we need to have now is for a policy framework to protect renters the way home-owners are – in retirement and from rising rental costs. Otherwise, how are people to live?