Our Quintain Living team has shared insights into the evolution of what renters want from their homes. As 2022 draws to a close, our team has noticed how items once on renters’ wish lists are now expected as standard.
Pet-friendly properties are the clearest example of this. All of Quintain Living’s 3,651 homes in Wembley Park welcome pets, with a range of on-site facilities such as ‘bark parks’, dog runs and a 'Laundro-Mutt' pet grooming space. Not in the too distant past, renters used to be pleasantly surprised to find that Quintain Living’s homes were pet-friendly. More recently, we’ve found that renters expect this as standard and the number of pets living in our properties continues to increase. Over 400 cats and dogs now call Quintain Living home and there's such a strong community of pet owners that we recently held a Halloween pet parade.
Work-from-home spaces are another item that has gone from wish list to expectation. Our Canada Gardens development recognises this with a range of work-from-home areas. These include a rooftop lounge with a dedicated work-from-home area, an on-site clubhouse for working in a relaxed, social setting and some beautiful designer office sheds dotted around the extensive gardens. Our new Repton Gardens development also provides an entire work-from-home suite with ten hireable offices and a meeting room.
Other core resident expectations include gyms (which will be present in all our Quintain Living buildings across our 11 developments by the start of 2023) and outdoor spaces. These boost both mental and physical wellbeing, while residents also expect a selection of health-focused amenities in the local area. Wembley Park ticks all the right boxes in this respect, with beauty and hair salons, spas, gyms, health clubs and more. Social spaces – such as the rooftop juice bar, Mad Hatter’s Tea Party Garden, lawn areas, large residents’ lounge and John Lennon-inspired peace garden at The Robinson – are also important from a mental wellbeing perspective.
Looking ahead to 2023, the Quintain Living team is also now seeing some new trends emerging. Energy efficiency is one thing that residents are increasingly seeking and rightly so, both from a cost point-of-view and a sustainability perspective. We have addressed this through the implementation of an innovative, award-winning new tool which reads utility meters across the Wembley Park estate every 15 minutes, comparing readings against a calculated norm for each home. The tool sends a daily update to our Quintain Living team, which can flag up any unusual activity for a typical property. It has already identified issues such as lightbulbs left on in homes between leases or minor leaks – sometimes even before residents are aware of the issue. This means that residents can be confident that processes are in place for ensuring maximum energy efficiency.
Renters are also looking for an easier customer journey that delivers a fast, frictionless, end-to-end experience. Our team at Quintain Living is serving this trend in multiple ways. The referencing process has been completed in as little as 6 minutes 20 seconds due to us partnering with an innovative, trusted technology partner that automates the process, acting quicker than traditional credit referencing agencies. The super speedy referencing process builds on the growing trend of easy leasing, which has seen over 40% of our residents lease their homes without ever coming to see the property in person!
From 2023 onwards, we will also be adding to our range of viewing options. We're planning to offer even greater flexibility through self-guided, in-person tours of our apartment buildings including those of our new sustainabiliy-focussed development, Repton Gardens, pictured below.
“Over the course of 2022, we’ve seen a number of ‘nice to haves’ become embedded as core items that residents expect to be included in their homes. As we head into 2023, the sector continues to evolve, as do residents’ expectations. We look forward to delivering faster, easier customer journeys as the year progresses, as well as the incredible apartments and outstanding social spaces for which Quintain Living is known.”
Ashley San Pedro, Sales Director, Quintain Living
