Brendan Geraghty
Chief Executive, Association for Rental Living
What does a well-run rental home actually look like? For the first time, the Build to Rent sector has written it down and made it binding.
Nobody ever defined what a well-managed rental home looks like in Britain. There are rules about gas certificates and deposit protection, but nothing setting out what a resident should expect from the people who run their building. No standard for how complaints are handled, whether staff are trained or what happens at 10 pm on a Sunday night. That gap has framed renting as something you put up with, not something done well.
Renting as a service
Build to Rent runs on different logic. These are homes designed for long-term renting, managed by permanent professional teams. The business model depends on keeping residents happy to stay — not on selling up once the building is full. That changes how buildings are staffed, how problems are resolved and how much the person living there matters.
This is the first time any part of the rental market
has adopted a recognised standard by choice
Residents rate Build to Rent at 4.60/5. This is a record for the third year running, while comparable private rented homes score 3.83 (HomeViews/Rightmove, 2026). That’s the gap between treating someone as a customer and treating them as a tenant to be managed.
Binding rental practices
This year, the Build to Rent Alliance launched a Code of Practice setting out what residents should expect: transparent costs, qualified on-site staff, named accountability, proper complaints routes and independent review. For rental home operators who sign up, it’s binding. The rental living sector is advocating for it to become the compliance route for the Decent Homes Standard when it extends to private renting as part of the Renters’ Rights Act measures. This is the first time any part of the rental market has adopted a recognised standard by choice.
Making rental trust visible
Renting in Britain will not earn cultural legitimacy through advertising, but rather in the same way any service does: by being good enough, consistently enough and ensuring that people trust it. The Code of Practice is how Build to Rent makes that trust visible.
Learn more at the ARL.org.uk
