Building new homes is a major task, but what about the day-to-day running of these developments once they are complete? We speak to Rendall and Rittner managing director Richard Daver about his company’s role in maintaining schemes around the UK and keeping residents happy.
Richard, please tell us a little about yourself and Rendall & Rittner
At Rendall and Rittner we manage around 350 buildings, comprising 45,000 units. We partner with leading developers such as Berkeley Homes, Telford Homes and Redrow to manage a wide range of schemes from small, high-end developments to some of London’s largest regeneration projects.
Our founding directors, Matt Rittner and Duncan Rendall, set up the business in 1990 from their own homes, as they were unhappy with the managing agents in their development. From working at home to now employing more than 250 head office staff and over 900 on-site employees – that’s quite some feat! We also recently won the RESI Award for Property Manager of the Year, so it’s quite an exciting time for the company.
I have been managing director for the more than 10 years now and I am a chartered surveyor with 25 years’ experience spanning local authority, housing associations and the private sector. It is rewarding to be able to help shape a business, which is at the forefront of the industry, always looking for ways to innovate and make a difference, whether that is for our residents or for our staff.
It is also amazing to look across London’s skyline and see so many buildings managed by Rendall and Rittner and where we have contributed to their success.
What are the kinds of services you provide?
Rendall and Rittner delivers management services to a wide range of developments. Our work includes on-site staff recruitment and development, financial control, legal services and building repairs, and managing a wide range of on-site facilities, including swimming pools, gyms and residents’ clubs.
Our dedicated new development team offers consultancy services, ranging from assistance with management strategies for planning submissions through to moving in strategies and advice on prevailing market conditions. In order to integrate private, affordable and commercial tenures we look to develop an early relationship with all users of a scheme. By fully understanding the planning requirements under Section 106 agreements, we can develop strategies accordingly. We also offer services to Registered Providers, in order to help achieve tenure blind management and deliver economies of scale.
Do you operate everywhere or specialise in particular locations?
Our head office is in London, where most of our developments are based. However, our national presence continues to grow, both in established areas such as Manchester, where we manage 2,500 units and employ over 30 on-site staff, but also in our more recently formed areas concentrating on The South and Midlands.
We opened a Midlands office in Milton Keynes two years ago after significant restructuring to become a truly national company. It covers the areas of Hertfordshire to Leicestershire and Birmingham to Norfolk. And last year we opened a south-east office to cater for London Borough of Croydon, Surrey and Sussex. Widening our locations, enables us to expand our bulk procurement and resident portal offerings to the ultimate benefit of all our clients.
We also run a senior living division that has been growing steadily since January last year. The division promotes resident involvement and encourages the formation of residents’ associations to enable people to get together as a community to help shape decisions.
Have stamp duty/tax changes/political changes affected the market in a major way over the past couple of years, if so, how?
From a property management perspective, we have not seen a slow in the market. We have been rather busy with a number of new tenders across our estate and senior living divisions, especially in the larger cities in London and Manchester where block management is needed. There are still pockets of growth and regeneration in larger cities in particularly where there is a growing need for property management as buildings become more and more complex.”
Build to Rent has become a very 'hot' phrase in the property industry - where do you think it is heading generally?
We are working with an expanding number of Build to Rent operators, ranging from major housebuilders to investment funds. The purpose-built market, of which there are circa 1,000 units in the pipeline, offers all the necessary touches expected for sharers and large families. We can add value to this market by offering a range of concierge, maintenance and lifestyle services to the residents. We are seeing more of these types of developments, in particular among regeneration sites and have teams in London, the Midlands and Manchester.
We are also beginning to see a number of housing associations move into this market. We approach each development on a case by case basis so we are often adapting our services for each site and ensuring we offer added value – this is the same in the Build to Rent market.
This expanding market offers a huge opportunity for our market. For professional landlords, this growth in the rented sector is creating a sea-change in what landlords expect from residential managing agents and also in how residents perceive the role of property managers. It provides the opportunity to maximise returns through value-added property management.
Are you seeing major changes in the design/specification/amenities of the new buildings you are asked to manage?
Forward-looking developers understand that they need to invest in great customer service, a strong brand and a good choice of amenities if they want to be at the forefront, not just of the PRS (private rented sector) movement, maximising the returns for the landlord, but also for a new hotel-style of living.
There are many more services being added to our portfolio. While we see an increase in the need for concierge services, gym and meeting room management, there is also a host of new services opening up. From cinema rooms, wine cellars, resident lounges and even a bowling alley – developers are pushing the boundaries to the types of amenities available on their resident’s doorstep.
As managing agents, we are offering more too for both our clients and their residents. We are teaming up with a number of Hilton Hotels close to our developments to offer room service to residents from the hotels restaurants. This is part of our continued commitment to enhancing our service levels.
Last year we also launched the R&R Residents Club across eight of our south-west London developments offering our residents the chance to save money at a host of London attractions, restaurants and bars. This service is now operating across 20,000 units and we are continuing to roll this out during the rest of the year. It is important that we are committed to making this work as part of an added value initiative that enables our residents to save money on the great things they can see and do, on their doorstep, while also offering businesses the opportunity to promote their services. We are now working on a new online platform, to make it even more accessible for all our residents.
Most tenants are very well behaved I'm sure, but have any of your concierge teams had to deal with any particularly odd requests recently?
Our teams really do go out of their way to look after residents. Some recent stories include one man at a high-end development, who requested our concierge team source an antique table for him after seeing one he liked on the Antiques Roadshow, which they did! Other anecdotes include a resident being accompanied to A&E after an accident, ordering a private chef for a party at the last minute and even rushing to the airport when a resident forgot her passport. Did she make the flight? Yes, she did.
What initiatives do Rendall and Rittner have in place for recruiting the right staff?
As a result of our expansions we are creating new jobs so we can focus on what really matters. The quality of service that we give to clients and residents remains at the heart of the business at all levels and this will continue. From our experienced and hands on senior management team, through to every member of staff, our business is about people and investing in them. That’s why we are proud to have retained our Investors in People Gold standard.
We are always looking to improve the standard of management in the industry. One large project we have just been working on is the launch of the first ever government apprenticeship in housing and property management.
Since the government’s pledge last year to create three million apprenticeships by 2020, many industries and sectors seized the opportunity to become ‘Trailblazer’ employers. Rendall and Rittner championed apprenticeships through the Trailblazer scheme and formed the collaboration group combining Catch22, the Institute of Residential Property Management (IRPM) and the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH).
An apprenticeship of its kind in housing and property management, proves how important this part of the industry is for the future of property developments. We are excited to have been successful in finding the right calibre of apprentices, who we are sure will go on to have a significant impact on the future of this sector.