Earlier this year, Investec published research showing that 91% of investors think ‘blended living’ schemes that incorporate a combination of build-to-rent (BTR), student accommodation, co-living, retirement living and/or serviced apartments will be commonplace in the UK within the next five years. Last month, Yardi and Property Week brought together a panel of residential experts to explore what makes a successful blended living scheme, the importance of good design and how tech can improve customer experience. Panel of experts Christian Armstrong, director of brand, product and technology, Get Living Mark Bladon, director, Investec Georgie Drewery, account executive, Yardi Systems Félicie Krikler, architect and director, Assael Architecture Beth West, head of development management, Landsec Simon Creasey (chair), consulting editor/features, Property Week Blended living schemes are already commonplace in the US – why do you think they haven’t yet really gained traction in the UK? Bladon: For a number of reasons. If you look at the most developed of those sectors in the UK, it would probably be purpose-built student accommodation and that’s only been going in one form or another in a meaningful way for about 10 years. In the US, the investor market for this type of product is much more mature. Also, the BTR market in the UK had a lot of false starts between 2000 and, say, 2010 where people were just not able to get developments off the ground, but that’s all changed now. People have taken a bit of a leap of faith and there is now trading product, so you can benchmark yields and you can look at it on a cashflow basis. So what we’ve seen is people that have been in a very specific ‘beds for rent’ sector have realised that they can leverage off their existing operational platform, off their infrastructure, off the location – there’s so many things they can now do to broaden their horizon. What are the key ingredients that you need to make a blended living scheme work for all residents, particularly in terms of things like amenities provision? Armstrong: Amenities are really important but you have to think ahead, do some research and speak to your existing residents and prospective residents about what amenities they would actually use. I’ve seen some stunning stuff on schemes like barbecue terraces and outdoor terraces and then it hits me that we live in the UK – this is not the US. So I’m going to be sitting there with my cappuccino on the outdoor terrace with the froth blowing off! Bladon: That’s where the skill comes in. These schemes still have to make a profit, so you can’t just keep pouring money in. Somebody described it as an ‘amenities arms race’. They’re almost turning student accommodation into hotels and then they’re charging students £350 a week. As a result, you might end up with a half-empty property. The most successful operators are going to be the ones that can find the right balance. West: That’s why I think we haven’t reached that maturity point yet – this amenities arms race is a very immature reaction to what people think is a single market and a single customer for this product, but there are loads of people who want this product. If we’re going to build housing that attracts a broad range of different people staying for a long time then we have to think about offering a variety of different affordability points. Bladon: I think there’s another issue that lends itself to a blended portfolio and that’s the power of building a brand that can be used across the whole lifecycle of your tenant. So you start with your student, then co-living, then they get into their mid-20s and they want to move into BTR. That [BTR] can take them from being single, to married with children and living in a three-bed, all the way up to potentially the age of 60, when they might move into...