Aareal trend barometer – The future of living
Tenants' new needs and resulting earnings potential for the housing industry
What do tenants want today with regard to the property they are renting and the surrounding area? What makes a property attractive to tenants besides price and location? And in the current seller's market, why do landlords need to be proactive and take greater account of tenants' needs when considering their own future viability?
The Aareal trend barometer 2023 provides some answers. It is based on a survey of around 5,000 tenants in Germany that we conducted in collaboration with the opinion research company Civey in early 2023. We also polled around 150 of our clients in the housing industry about how well prepared they are to serve the various needs of their tenants and to make use of the resulting business opportunities.
The changing needs of tenants
The results show that tenants' needs are changing. As well as traditional decision-making criteria such as price and living space, other aspects are playing a major role, with sustainability, transport connections and digital infrastructure becoming increasingly important to quality of living and life. Tenants would also like more transparent dealings with their landlords and greater digitalisation in relation to sending bills or statements of payment obligations, for example. In addition, tenants are increasingly open to service packages from their landlord or even their energy provider.
Opportunities for the housing industry
Landlords have the opportunity to open up new sources of income with services and digital dialogue formats. However, our poll around decision-makers shows that there are also obstacles: according to its own assessment, the housing sector is inadequately prepared for many aspects of future issues.
In the Aareal trend barometer "The future of living", we have summarised the survey results in a compact format and analysed them for you. You can read about:
- What tenants want specifically in terms of modern quality of living and life.
- Which services offer the most promising potential for the housing industry to open up new sources of income and stand out from the competition.
- How well the housing industry considers itself to be prepared for tenants' needs and where there are deficiencies.
- Why right now is a good time for the housing sector to slip into the role of designer of future residential and living environments, thereby filling a vacuum.
Happy reading!
