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Innovative living continues to disrupt the residential real estate industry. By offering greater flexibility, affordability and convenience, the likes of serviced apartments, coliving, and build-to-rent (BTR) properties are becoming increasingly popular alternatives to hotels, the private rental sector (PRS) and expensive mortgages.
From property size and amenities to length of stay and billing methods, there are many ways these three innovative living segments are distinct from traditional accommodation options - but how do they differentiate from each other?
Here’s what you need to know.
Serviced apartments
What are serviced apartments?
Serviced apartments offer a home-like experience away from home. 50% of serviced apartments offer self-service check-in and most are self-catered, providing fully-equipped kitchens and essential ‘home-living’ appliances, such as ovens and washing machines (many serviced apartments also provide hotel-style services like weekly housekeeping and on-site gyms). As serviced apartments are more spacious than hotels, they attract longer stays (17% of guests stay for 30+ days) and outperform traditional hotels in terms of occupancy (81% vs 77%) and average nightly rates (£160 vs £120). In the UK, there are 56,700 serviced apartments in this increasingly mature sector, with a market value of £1.7 billion.
Who stays in serviced apartments?
Most serviced apartments are located in large urban areas. London, for example, accounts for 45% of UK serviced apartments (Manchester is second with 6.3%) and has the most serviced apartment stock in Europe. City locations predominantly attract business travellers (45% of UK serviced apartment guests), as well as tourists (27%) and relocating professionals (23%) - be they domestic guests (59%) or international (41%). By 2025, Gen Z will make up 27% of the workforce, so the serviced apartment industry at large must adapt to cater to tech-savvy and sustainability-conscious business travellers.
The essential serviced apartment PropTech features
- Automated check-in & check-out - To ensure seamless arrivals and departures, enable guests to check-in without a concierge by automatically sending pre-arrival questions to guests with digital keys to access their rooms and helpful information about entering the property.
- Automated housekeeping - Providing impeccable service and quick turnarounds, your PMS can schedule housekeeping rotas, automatically allocate activities, and communicate with on-site staff remotely.
- Long-stay booking software - Catering for long-stay serviced apartment guests, use booking software with specific long-stay procedures, such as digital verification checks, contract signing, and inventories, as well as the ability to take secure deposits and set up direct debits.
Coliving
What is coliving?
The coliving model is a shared-living experience for groups of like-minded individuals. Based on the values of community and flexibility, coliving spaces provide private rooms or apartments within a communal property, as well as purpose-built communal areas (i.e. living rooms and kitchens), high-quality amenities (i.e. cinema room and gym), and communal events (i.e. yoga on the roof). Coliving also offers flexible leases (i.e. from one week to one year) and all-inclusive bills (i.e. just one monthly payment). In the UK, there are over 4,000 coliving beds (82% of which are in London) with a potential demand of almost two million tenants.
Who stays in coliving properties?
Coliving attracts guests with shared interests, who want to live with others while having their own private space. Thanks to flexible leases and all-inclusive bills, coliving typically attracts young graduates, students, relocators and travellers - especially those arriving in a new city for the first time. Coliving embraces the rise of remote working and digital nomad lifestyles (increased 131% since 2019) with more coliving properties emerging outside cities. What’s more, coliving is increasingly attracting middle-aged renters, empty nesters, and seniors seeking community-focused experiences or less stressful accommodation options.
The essential coliving PropTech features
- Channel manager - An exceptional channel manager cultivates a community of like-minded residents by connecting to major online travel agents (i.e. Booking.com) and specialist coliving channels (i.e. Nomad Stays).
- Digital key access - Securing personal spaces while opening communal areas to all, digital key software restricts access to private areas, specific floors or amenities at certain hours (i.e. no use of the spa after 10pm).
- Guest portal - Giving coliving residents greater control of their stay, a guest portal enables them to organise their own social functions, communicate seamlessly with other guests and property managers, and raise maintenance tickets when things go wrong.
Build-to-rent (BTR)
What is BTR?
Build-to-rent (BTR) offers purpose-built and professionally-managed homes to renters. Characterised by offering the slick service (i.e. digital concierge and weekly housekeeping) and state-of-the-art amenities (i.e. gym, spa and cinema) of hotel-style accommodation to renters that would otherwise be unable to afford them in their own home, most BTR properties attract long-term renters (92% of BTR properties offer 1-3 year leases) with fixed term Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs). There are almost 100,000 completed BTR units in the UK, with a further 180,000 in the pipeline.
Who stays in BTR properties?
Single-family homes account for 42% of BTR investment and will make up a fifth of the UK BTR market by 2032. As such, over 40% of BTR residents are aged in the first-time buyer age group of 25-34. However, the facilities, convenience and potential of community in BTR also attracts older residents – there are double the number of renters aged 50-65 than 10 years ago. What’s more, the increasing diversification of BTR - both in terms of property type and location - caters to a range of demographics and lifestyle choices. For example, remote workers lean towards suburban and rural BTR, while BTR properties near out-of-town hospitals are well-suited for healthcare professionals.
The essential BTR PropTech features
- Automated billing - Handling an array of different resident types and tenancy lengths, flexible billing automation automatically requests, takes and chases monthly rental payments (or takes payments via direct debit).
- Automated emails - Informing long-stay BTR guests about parcel deliveries, upcoming events, or maintenance updates, use automated and personalised emails.
- Digital inventories - Maintaining the state of your units over a long-term BTR tenancy and ensuring there’s no disagreement at check-out, ask residents to complete digital inventory checks before moving in and mid-way through their stay to catch any minor maintenance issues.
Manage serviced apartments, coliving, and BTR with res:harmonics
Nowadays, almost all innovative living operators rely on a property management system (PMS) to manage their portfolio. But what if you have multiple guest types, varied stay lengths or different innovative living segments under your management?
At res:harmonics, you can manage multiple serviced apartment, coliving, and BTR properties from one centralised platform. Not only does our PMS have all the essential PropTech features required to successfully run each segment, but our system also integrates with a range of software for seamless innovative living management, such as access control, revenue management, and finance reporting tools. For example, serviced apartments provider Viridian Apartments manages its mixed-use development (80% BTR, 20% serviced apartment) from one platform with res:harmonics.
Download the Ultimate Guide to Serviced Apartment Management Software 2024 to learn how property management software supports serviced apartment operators.
Download the Ultimate Guide To Coliving Property Management Software 2024 to find out how property management software supports coliving operators.
Request a demo to find out more.
