Over the past 18 months, many leading industry professionals have been taken aback by the phenomenal rise of Home Made – a proptech lettings startup based in central London that has become the industry’s leading provider of Build to Rent marketing services. During this time, Home Made has grown to work with the vast majority of the UK’s largest institutional landlords – many of whom have never previously partnered with any external provider.
The Build to Rent market is the fastest-growing segment in the largest asset class globally – residential properties – but no other lettings provider has been able to rise to the challenge of delivering results at the speed and scale required to achieve ambitious operator revenue targets.
The Home Made Build to Rent proposition is now engaged by the majority of the largest Build to Rent funds, representing a combined portfolio of over 60,000 units and growing at 45% YoY. In 2021, they launched in three new cities and laid the groundwork for their forthcoming European expansion (set to be delivered in H1 2022).
Given Home Made’s meteoric growth, and the fact that they have succeeded where so many established brands have failed, we asked their team to share some insights into what they’ve learned and what makes them so different from anyone else in the market.
Here’s what they told us.
It’s about measurable results, not excuses
Our clients have choices, and ultimately want to see directly measurable results in the form of increased leasing velocity. As a startup, this is the strongest metric we have for retaining and winning new business. Being measured by our results is the toughest, but most rewarding, aspect of our work.
With no branches (and therefore much lower overheads), and a unique operating model, we are able to:
- Drive significantlyhigher volumes of renter enquiries.
- Convert more of those enquiries into fully qualified prospective residents requesting physical viewings using our tech-enabled tools.
- Conduct more in-person viewings than any agent – or onsite team – can in any given day.
- Convert more of those into offers and ultimately move-ins.
The model is entirely success-based so if we don’t deliver exceptional, fully qualified renters then we don’t get paid – so it matters to us as much as it matters to the client that it works.
The greatest testament to the fact that it clearly does is our growth with leading clients such as:
- Greystar; going from one to seven sites including leading our expansion in the North;
- Grainger; going from one to nine sites;
- M&G from one to eight sites, and;
- Quintain Living where we have an exclusive partnership and fully integrated model to feed fully qualified, booked viewings into the onsite leasing teams directly
and these are only a few of our success stories.
Add to that the fact that our fees are considerably lower than any other provider (avg 47% cheaper), with absolutely zero compromise on quality or compliance and a completely brand-consistent customer journey and you get a very simple outcome;
………we deliver better results than anyone else and at a lower cost.
The Home Made model in action
We also know that…
Data is king
Home Made’s unique Build to Rent data services set us apart from our competitors. Our insights support decision-making at every stage of the development lifecycle, from site acquisition to full occupancy, and are relied upon at the investor level as well as by the marketing and operations teams.
Data is by far the strongest resource available to Build to Rent operators looking to meet ambitious occupancy targets and create surplus value throughout the lifecycle of a development. Even when renter demand in the market is strong, access to meaningful live data is crucial in enabling developers to react and adjust lease-up strategies in order to meet (or even exceed) their top-line performance objectives.
Build to Rent operators understand this and invest heavily in their in-house data analysis teams, with all stakeholders wanting to understand how assets are performing in forensic detail. However, the problem faced by in-house teams is that they are unable to collect data points in enough volume to make statistically meaningful observations about consumer behaviour. This is because they only have access to data on the limited number of leads that come through via their own marketing channels.
By contrast, Home Made gathers millions of proprietary data points on a weekly basis from tens of thousands of renter enquiries and we have and continue to, invest heavily in building the most comprehensive data reporting solutions in the industry.
We provide operators with incredibly sophisticated micro and macro analysis covering:
- Whole-of-market analysis.
- Local asset geography (market comps).
- Single asset performance.
In bespoke reports, we provide operators with detailed metrics on both external market factors and standard internal KPIs, with quantitative and qualitative insights on.
What matters most?
Operators ultimately have three priorities:
- Maximise ERVs.
- Achieve full occupancy – quickly.
- Achieve the above within a defined budget.
The Home Made model directly supports all three objectives in a way no other provider can and we are only just getting started.
Real-time impact on NOI – the future model!
As Home Made continues to grow and the Build to Rent sector continues to evolve many of our current clients are starting to see the opportunity to rethink their OpEx modelling.
Home Made can provide the resources, the technology and the processes to drastically reduce operator overheads. The results we achieve, ie reducing the time to stabilisation by an average of 25%, make the desired net positive impact on NOI a reality.
Summary
The Build to Rent sector represents the future of UK residential lettings. In Home Made, operators have found a trusted partner able to provide a service that supports the scale of their ambition. No other provider in the marketplace has been able to achieve results that come close, and the number of major funds working with Home Made (plus the staggering volume of units they trust them to market) is testament to this simple truth.
For operators wanting to exceed expected ERVs, reach their occupancy targets well ahead of schedule, and reduce marketing costs, then Home Made’s Build to Rent service proposition has become the go-to option.
At BTR News, we’re looking forward to seeing Home Made’s evolution this year and expect to hear news of continued growth and expansion.
