The rise of tenant-centric property management
As of April 2025, average rents have risen 4% year on year in the UK. This continued rise in rent prices has led tenants to expect more for their money, wanting more than just a roof over their heads, and instead looking at enhanced features when renting a property.
With the evolution of the UK rental market, it's important that landlords and property investors take a tenant-centric approach to property management to ensure that rental properties meet the demands of prospective tenants and attract and retain residents.
In this article, we will look at what it means to be tenant-centric when it comes to property management, how it can benefit landlords and property managers and our top tips for implementing this approach to help maximise the value of rental properties.
What is tenant-centric property management?
Tenant-centric property management is an emerging approach that prioritises not only the needs of tenants but also takes into account their desires and expectations.
With many modern tenants now considering renting long-term, the demand for high-quality living and more emphasis on luxury lifestyles means property management must evolve to meet these new expectations.
Tenant-centric property management can present opportunities to make processes more efficient, highlight key areas to add long-term value to properties like smart or green home technology and provide important unique selling points to help attract and retain high-quality tenants.
What are the benefits of tenant-centricity?
While a tenant-centric approach puts the tenants' needs at the centre of its practice, it can also have great benefits for landlords, property managers and estate agents.
Attracting residents
Following updated rental reforms and increased protection from policies, tenants are more empowered to look for properties that meet their expectations and needs. Therefore, to attract the best tenants, properties that have tenant-centric features, including property management, can stand out.
Retaining tenants
Finding the right tenants can be time consuming and costly. Often, it can be beneficial for both landlords and tenants to invest time in building relationships that lead to longer-term rental agreements.
This can avoid periods of vacancy and no rental income from properties, reduce admin time and cost to market the property and conduct viewings.
By enhancing tenant satisfaction through tenant-centric property management, tenants are more likely to renew their lease or even recommend your build-to-rent property to friends, providing an opportunity for organic awareness.
Adding value
Many of the tenant-centric upgrades can help to add value to investment properties. This can present additional revenue opportunities such as increased rental value, enabling landlords to charge a premium for luxury living environments.
Similarly, value may be added from renovations or updates that enhance the tenant experience. This can present opportunities for a greater return on investment when it comes to selling the property.
Data-driven decision making
With the rise in build-to-rent properties, taking a tenant-centric approach can enable you to remain competitive in a crowded market. Be sure to conduct thorough research to consider market composition and competitors to help inform rent pricing strategy and what tenant-centric features other properties in the local area are offering to help you understand the landscape.
By making data-driven decisions, you can position your properties as a premium audience, highlighting unique tenant-centric selling points, to attract high-quality tenants who are willing to spend more in return for an elevated rental experience.
Tenant-centric property management tips to maximise your investment
Clear communication
Prioritising relationship building is one of the best ways to increase tenant satisfaction and encourage resident retention. Ensuring that all communication is clear, timely and accurate will help to build trust, especially when it comes to addressing any issues or concerns from tenants.
Defining clear communication channels and setting realistic expectations when it comes to responding to requests can help tenants feel respected and heard, and provide clarity for everyone involved.
Utilising digital efficiency
A brilliant way to enable clear communication between landlords, estate agents or property managers and their tenants is to utilise digital communications.
Streamlining property management by digitising typical tasks like rent collection, maintenance issue reporting, or contract renewals can help tenants, landlords and estate agents work more efficiently, saving time and money for all parties.
Investing in maintenance and upkeep
Responding to any maintenance issues quickly can be beneficial to tenants and the value of properties. By addressing any reported issues quickly, you can avoid the property falling into disrepair, risking long-term damage.
Investing in the upkeep of your rental properties will also encourage tenants to take care of it themselves, likely wanting to live in a pleasant environment, too.
Connected smart home technology
Investing in smart home technology can greatly improve the living experience of tenants, as well as improve the energy and performance efficiency of buildings.
Installing smart security systems, like smart locks, keyless entry and video doorbells, will increase the safety and security of your property and of your tenants, improving their experience and protecting your investment.
Within units, adding smart thermostats can help tenants better control their energy usage and contribute to the overall energy efficiency of your property - even more if you have green energy sources, like installing solar panels!
Using smart building connectivity will ensure that all Wi-Fi-powered smart tech performs well with high-speed connection, allowing all your systems to communicate and work seamlessly alongside each other.
Luxury lifestyle-enhancing amenities
In many modern apartment complexes and new build flats, tenants are offered multiple amenities and features that provide convenience and a touch of luxury to the residential experience.
On-site amenities like gyms and wellness facilities, cinema rooms and well kept communal spaces can all enhance the living experience for tenants, helping to foster a sense of community among residents and encourage retention.
Convenient concierge services
Increasingly, luxury rental units are offering concierge services that provide tenants with assistance, such as managing packages and deliveries. It can also provide reassurance and increased safety for tenants.
As with many other tenant-centric features, concierge services also present benefits for landlords. For landlords, concierge services can help to streamline property management tasks, manage maintenance requests and liaise with contractors to efficiently address any issues.
Embracing Flexibility
While some tenants and landlords may be looking for long-term rental solutions, others may be open to embracing flexible arrangements.
Offering flexible leasing options, such as short-term leases or rolling contracts, can help improve accessibility and cater to diverse tenant bases. Other flexibility features include rent-to-rent options, allowing tenants to sublet their rental property, or the ability to easily change tenants on contract agreements.
Flexibility can actually help to increase retention, and even mean that some of the property management tasks, like finding tenants, is delegated to rent-to-rent tenants or existing residents.
Final Thoughts
With a clear shift towards tenant-centric property management in response to increased tenant expectations and demands, placing tenant satisfaction at the heart of your property management can help you to stand out in a crowded rental market, attracting and retaining high-quality tenants.
Understanding tenant demands, making data-driven decisions, maintaining high standards and prioritising building positive relationships with residents are essential in creating a tenant-centric experience, leading to reduced churn and reducing vacancy periods, maximising the value and potential of rental property investment and management.
