Rental trade group rebrands in bid to win broader appeal

A group founded eight years ago to represent the Build To Rent niche has now rebranded in a bid to win broader appeal.

The UK Apartment Association is now too be known, with immediate effect, as the Association for Rental Living. It says the rebrand is highlight “the breadth of the purpose-built rental living sector which it represents in the UK, and the growth of rental living internationally.”

Originally founded out of, and with affiliation support from, the National Apartment Association in the USA, the UK Apartment Association declared itself as the body leading on Build To Rent best practice, knowledge and data sharing, networking, and events.

Recent data from Savills shows that there are now 100,300 BTR homes completed.

The revamped trade body says it has a membership of more than 330 organisations across what it calls “the rental living sector ecosystem”, representing some 4,500 professionals.

It says under its new guise it will represent “all institutionally backed, professionally managed purpose-built rental living sectors” including Urban multifamily; Suburban multifamily; Urban single-family; Suburban single-family; Co-living; and Later living.

“The UKAA brand was appropriate when the organisation was first formed, primarily serving members of the BTR apartment sector in the UK.  That sector is maturing and growing in scope and the increasing investment in, and demand for, other types of purpose-built rental homes has meant the ‘Apartment Association’ brand is longer descriptive of the wider living sector the organisation represents” explains chief executive Brendan Geraghty.

“The underlying principle of who the ARL represents is institutionally backed, purpose-built, professionally managed rental homes of all types and the name reflects this – elevating rental living with politicians, policymakers, and consumers.”

The ARL goes on to says it will be “delivering an increasingly amplified and unified voice for the purpose-built rental living sector. Its vision is to redefine the very concept of rental living through the global transformation of the sector, pioneering a world where exceptional, sustainable homes to rent are a first choice.”

The rebrand took nine months to establish, the ARL says.