UK’s leading property maintenance software provider, Fixflo, conducted an industry survey with an aim to understand the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for property professionals in the sector. The survey ran over the summer and the results will be released in The Fixflo Leasehold and Block Management Report 2019 in October 2019. Supported by ARMA, MRI Software, News On The Block and Flat Living, The Fixflo Leasehold and Block Management Survey was completed by 207 individuals representing 170 Leasehold and Block Management Companies and 37 Industry Suppliers. Some of the highlights reported here may come as a surprise to many.
Growth for Many
Block Management professionals surveyed were asked to compare the number of leasehold units their company managed five years ago and now. The responses were analysed and the findings showed that almost 40% of all Block Management Companies surveyed have achieved more than 35% growth in the number of leasehold units they manage. Only 3% of those surveyed are managing fewer units in 2019 than they did five years ago.
BTR - A £2.6 Billion Opportunity Missed By Many
Based on data published by Savills in May 2019, the number of Build to Rent (BTR) units completed in Q1 2019 exceeded 30,000, a staggering 34% increase from the same time period in 2018. Another report by Savills published in June 2019 showed that investment in BTR schemes reached £2.6 billion in 2018, an 11% increase than that in 2017 and the highest level of investment since 2014.
According to Fixflo’s research, almost 70% of Block Management Companies have not yet expanded into the fast-growing BTR sector. And of those which have, the majority manage fewer than 100 BTR units, the equivalent of one smaller BTR block on the market. A meagre 7% of the companies surveyed have more than 100 BTR units under their management. Furthermore, only 3% have over 1,000 BTR units under their management.
Tech & Productivity: A Positive Relationship
The research also investigated their use of technology, such as whether or not they used specialist block management software solutions. Of the companies surveyed, around 90% use specialist block management software solutions. Further analysis was performed on the dataset to examine the relationship between their use of technology and the number of buildings managed per full-time-equivalent Property Manager.
The results were clear-cut. Based on the analysis, a conclusion was drawn: on average, most Property Managers who do not use any specialist software could only manage fewer than 10 buildings (circa. 75% of the individuals responded so). This may be less of a surprise than common sense, but the investigation into the correlation between the number of buildings managed per full-time-equivalent Property Manager and using a standalone software compared to that with a software stack showed some surprising suggestions: a Property Manager with a software stack is more likely to manage more buildings than one with one standalone software. Just over 50% of Property Managers using one standalone software could manage more than 20 buildings, whilst over 60% of Property Managers using a software stack could do so. (A software stack refers to a process consisting of more than one software solution. An example of this is when a company using MRI Software for block management tasks uses Fixflo for PPM works management and reactive repairs reporting)
All respondents will be sent an e-copy of the report when it is released in October 2019. If you missed this year’s survey and would like to receive a copy, please sign up by clicking here.
