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Private Rental Sector Moving Towards Hotel-Style Rentals
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
The private rental sector is moving towards hotel-style rentals, as the proptech industry develops and caters to the needs of private tenants.
Hoteliers have begun to expand the idea of short-term, furnished accommodation to the private rental sector, reflecting the increasing need for efficiency and technology in the housing market.
Private Rental Sector Moving Towards Hotel-Style Rentals
Gerard Greene, the co-founder of Yotel, has launched Society, a property provider that offers rental homes across the UK.
Greene explains: “To find an apartment, there is a lengthy process where you have to send your passport and various other forms of ID, pay different fees to different people before you are moved into an apartment block – and then you never hear from them again.”
He plans to reduce the moving in time by making use of digital technology, allowing tenants to move into a new home in as little as 48 hours. A smartphone app will be used to manage the property.
Space efficiency is another key feature of the Society homes, which use furniture that can be collapsed and hidden in the floor or on walls.
This move into short-term, hotel-style rentals challenges traditional lettings models, which usually feature arduous paper applications, identity and credit checks, and year-long leases.
Greene believes that tenants’ needs have evolved to a faster pace, and the housing and proptech industries are starting to react. As people’s lives become increasingly centred around technology, business are adapting to cater to their needs.
And Greene isn’t the only hotelier to invest in short-term rentals. Richard Born and Ira Drukier, of BD Hotels, have unveiled plans to lease one and two-bedroom furnished apartments in New York City, at Pod Times Square. The Pod Pads can be leased from as little as one month up to a year, and will include cable, electricity and wifi. The apartments will range from 400-800 square feet.
Another proptech pioneer is Imfuna, whose suite of mobile inspection apps have been used in the lettings sector since 2009. The tools are used to increase efficiency, facilitating ultra-fast turnaround times, which can be cut by 75%.
Founded by Jax Kneppers, Imfuna has revolutionised the system of reporting on a range of property needs, from rentals to construction. The apps record the condition of a property using the phone’s camera and offer transcription to convert voice notes into written text. The information is then compiled into a shareable PDF report.
With new hotel-style rentals and proptech pioneers, it looks like the property industry is beginning to change. But is it for the better?
