Early Collaboration ‘Key to Build-to-Rent Success’

Developers need to get it right for the very start if their build-to-rent projects are to have a chance of success, says a leader in the sector in Australia.

Build-to-rent’s meteoric rise as a development strategy and model is continuing as developers look to shift into the space and find ways to make their projects succeed.

The model comes with its own share of differences to the traditional build-to-sell model, not the least being the need to build projects before finding tenants and then managing the ongoing rental component.

Rhys Williams, co-founder of UKO, which specialise in accommodation operation across a raft of models, said that there were key things that helped a build-to-rent project succeed.

Williams will join fellow authorities in the sector Jason Goldworthy, co-founder of Novus Living; and Chrystan Paul, chief executive of Alt Living; to explore setting up build-to-rent projects for success at the The Urban Developer Build-to-Rent vSummit on August 25. 

“The most important thing is for developers of build-to-rent projects to work with the operator in the early stages to establish the most efficient design from a construction, guest and customer perspective,” Williams said. 

This tactic helps streamline and make the the entire process efficient as the operator can help pinpoint what will and will not work for ongoing management as well as what residents and guests want from such projects.

“Fundamentally, in that design, you should be making sure that you are creating communal areas in the right position in the property to enable the operator to build a fantastic community within the asset,” Williams said.

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Looking to understand more about Australia’s build-to-rent market? Tune in to The Urban Developer's upcoming vSummit Thursday, 25 August. Click here to secure your ticket.

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It also helps minimise changes to the project during development and any related potential cost and scope creep.

Williams co-founded UKO in 2018 with Alex Thorpe based on the notion that there was a better way to manage apartments and units after years of managing serviced apartments and hotels through the Veriu Hotels group.

“We came out of the serviced apartments and hotel industry,” Williams said.

“We were very much involved in the design and operational side of accommodation and we felt that there was a very natural synergy between serviced apartments, hotels and build-to-rent accommodation.”