If you’re new to the world of Building and Estate Management, or perhaps are looking for guidance on how to track performance in this area, we’ve put together our best advice for managing and measuring performance at your development.
If you haven’t already started tracking your performance, it’s certainly an ideal worth exploring. Keeping tabs on your development’s progress and evolution allows you to pinpoint what areas you are succeeding in, and which parts require improvement. Here are the areas that we advise focusing on in order to optimise your performance:
Length of Stay
Tenants that are happy with the way that their property is being managed are more likely to renew their contracts and stay residents at your development for a prolonged period of time.
When it comes to those that own properties within your development rather than rent them, length of stay may not be an apt measure of success. Those that have purchased units outright may have a different outlook than tenants, with many homeowners choosing to sell their property somewhat swiftly as the market improves. Tenants do not have the same motives as investors for staying at their abode for the long-term, so you must consider a variety of factors when seeking to understand how well your development is performing.
Swift tenant turnover could be indicative of issues with your broader development which will require investigation to diagnose the root of the problem. If multiple tenants are complaining or vacating too far in advance, this could be indicative of a block-wide problem such as poor amenities, an increasingly unsafe neighbourhood or poor value for money, all of which will take considerable time and effort to amend. In other cases, riotous or disagreeable tenants, loud music or smoking could be the culprits of early termination of tenancy, with these isolated issues being somewhat simpler to fix by pinpointing the culpable individuals.
Ease of replacing tenants
In the event of a tenant vacating the property or terminating their tenancy, a high-performing Building and Estate Management company should be able to ‘avoid the void’ and fill the vacancy quickly. This is particularly important in build to rent developments where void periods can slow down return on investment. Alternatively, in developments where units can be purchased outright, good performance can be measured by finding purchasers for available units swiftly.
If you are struggling to replace tenants and offload your units, it is worth dissecting what precisely is impacting the appeal of your property. In many cases, poor advertising or inadequate representation by your chosen estate agency could be to blame – after all, who wants to live in a property that they have no idea exists!
Request feedback from your chosen estate agency from their viewings to determine the broader public’s thoughts on your development, and what they think requires improvement. A simple price reduction may be able to widen the appeal of your building and help with the replacement of tenants, with your estate manager being able to inform you of the best alteration to rental cost to amplify your appeal on the property market. It is also worth checking if your units are being advertised in a way that looks aesthetically pleasing – are your marketing materials concise? Do the displayed images of your properties look cluttered? Can the camera quality and editing be improved? Each of these aspects should be reviewed and tweaked to optimise your listing and help you find new tenants.
Tenant satisfaction
If amenities and facilities are not tended to, and the relevant procedures are not in place to correct these, there will be tenant complaints. This could be as a result of poor cleaning in communal areas, inadequate communication between block management and residents, or facilities such as lifts being frequently broken.
To measure the satisfaction of your residents, it’s important to go above and beyond to obtain unbiased feedback. Host site visits at regular intervals to assess communal facilities and ask any tenants you encounter what they appreciate about the development, and what could be improved. Alternatively, provide suggestion boxes in your developments’ foyer, or post tenant satisfaction surveys – ensuring that residents have ample opportunities to contact you and express their concerns and feedback is the first step towards understanding what you can improve on. The second step is taking the appropriate action to rectify these errors and being genuinely helpful after contact has been established.
If your development is struggling to keep on top of maintenance issues and the satisfaction of your tenants is suffering, Centrick offer an out of hours service. Even in the event of an emergency, we aim to help tenants feel catered to and heard by providing friendly, efficient and effective customer service.
Developer satisfaction
Dissatisfaction from developers can be indicative of poor Building and Estate Management performance, and sub-par value for money. If developers are unable to contact you, feel unheard, or are becoming increasingly concerned that they are not receiving the level of service they desire, then your business will undoubtedly suffer. Be it from word of mouth or poor reviews, word travels – and quickly. This can impact the number of new clients you take on, and could even have a knock-on effect that impacts your existing clients. Developers that use Centrick for their property management services can feel at ease knowing that they have a dedicated Property Manager who will understand their development inside out, providing their undivided attention to your property. What’s more, we offer in-house accounting services, and safety compliance officers, to ensure that you are getting the best value for money with our comprehensive packages.
Streamlined performance
Do tenants and developers find it easy to contact you, and find a subsequent solution to their problems? Good communication is imperative to ensure optimal satisfaction for tenants, homeowners and developers alike, with a streamlined service from your building and estate management company allowing these individuals to collaborate and solve problems quickly. Accessible measures should be put in place for complaints to be made so that solutions can be offered as soon as possible. This is why Centrick have a user-friendly platform called myCentrick that enables tenants to voice their concerns to us directly, which allows us to take the relevant action as soon as possible. Meanwhile, developers are kept in the loop with regular updates from their dedicated estate manager to ensure that all parties are on the same page, working towards a solution that works for everyone.
Are you looking for a building and estate management company with a fantastic reputation to keep your residents happy, optimise profit and minimise complaints? Centrick’s team are here to help your development be as successful as it possibly can be, and switching to our service couldn’t be simpler with our friendly and professional onboarding team. With our success in sales and lettings, we understand what the modern tenant and buyer wants, and use this experience to help your development perform to its full potential. Get in touch with us using the form below to see how Centrick can make a difference to your development’s performance today!
