The Lone Star-owned developer behind Wembley Park – Quintain Living – the property management arm of Quintain confirms a record number of residential leases in 2021, with 1,700 move-ins – equating to 3,400 new residents – compared to 633 move-ins for 2019 – representing a 166% increase.
For assets operating throughout the year, Quintain Living drove a 2.6% increase in rental yields and within the buildings that had stabilised before the pandemic, the company achieved 6.5%.
Despite Covid-19 restrictions impacting Q1 2021, the strong performance was supported by Quintain Living’s advanced technology platform. The platform includes virtual contactless viewings, 360 tours of apartments and a suite of online leasing tools. With leads generated over digital marketing, Quintain Living’s experienced leasing team has seen a conversion rate of nearly 50%, showing the importance of investing in Business-to-Consumer (B2C) technologies and providing seamless customer journeys during both lockdown and normal market conditions. The advanced platform has also allowed the developer to attract over 450 international residents, who all demonstrated the confidence to rent without an in-person viewing.
“Last year’s [2021] incredible leasing performance has undoubtedly been the result of our fantastic team and bespoke training program together with our residential offer and market leading technology platform, but also of the placemaking strategy we’ve been developing for years.
“We both manage and curate the Wembley Park estate, which has allowed us to improve the quality of the public realm, for example, through the addition of the Olympic Steps, but also to ensure we bring in the kind of retailers, restaurants and cafes that add to the sense of community we’ve created. Never has the 15-minute city been more relevant as people spend more time in their neighbourhoods. People are attracted to both place and product and it’s crucial to look after both.”
James Saunders, CEO, Quintain Limited
Quintain Living’s market-leading two and three-year lease terms enabled lease lengths to reach an average of 23.4 months in December. This reflects the findings of the recently published ‘Who lives in Build to Rent’ report, which showed that across the UK, Build to Rent schemes provide long-term housing to a variety of resident types and are not merely catering to short-term rental needs, as had been suggested in the past.
Quintain Living also maintained occupancy across both the market rate and discount market rental product, throughout several national lockdowns in 2020 and collected an average of 98% of rents owed – further proof of the resilience of the sector.
“The last couple of years have no doubt been a challenge for the whole industry, which is why Quintain Living’s performance this year comes as such a testament to our team and our approach. The Build to Rent sector is still coming of age in the UK and we have drawn on learnings from the more mature US market to ensure that, as we grow, best practices are enshrined in the way we work. It has clearly paid off and has allowed us to reach and surpass our ambitious annual targets. We look forward to seeing what 2022 has in store for us, in Wembley Park and beyond.”
Danielle Bayless, Chief Operating Officer, Quintain Living
The characteristics of the Build to Rent sector has been an appealing choice for many in the context of the pandemic, when outdoor space has been at a premium and working from home spaces have become a key requirement.
To keep up with demand, the sector is expanding rapidly across the country, with over 205,000 homes completed or in the pipeline, 43% of which are in London. At Wembley Park, 2020 and 2021 saw Quintain deliver its highest ever number of homes – with 2,359 homes completed, taking the total across all tenures to 4,780.
