Earlier this year, simplydbs embarked on a journey to discover what residents want in their rental homes. From suite layouts to lounges, we asked about 238 preferences. We also asked if, and how much, they were willing to pay for each preference. We got 1,500 responses from renters and owners across Canada resulting in 740,000 data points.

We want to underline that this was a national study and the results speak to the overall trends. In order to understand the preferences of your specific rental community – existing or proposed - we would filter our data accordingly.

This is Part I in a series: What follows is an excerpt of the amenities component of our study. In following articles we will explore resident’s preferences regarding programming, sustainability & accessibility, technology, services and design and features.

Amenities – so many options to choose from!

The menu of amenities introduced by housing providers continues to grow each year, with every new offering more extravagant than the last. With such a wide-ranging list to choose from, you need to select the right mix for your tenant mix and incorporate the amenities that are important to your specific tenant profile.

Car and bike amenities

One of the most sought-after sets of amenities relates to cars and parking.

Seventy-nine per cent of survey respondents indicated they would prefer indoor parking and the same number would prefer designated parking spaces. Over half would pay more for their own designated parking spot. Car washing facilities were wanted by 69 per cent of those who were asked.

If tenants have guests, where do they park? Eighty-five per cent want their guests to be able to park for free, though 48 per cent would be okay if their guests had to pay for parking.

And for those who may not have their own car, 68 per cent would like there to be designated parking for car sharing and 64 per cent would like there to be specific drop off and pick up areas for ride hailing services like Uber or Lyft.

A growing alternative to car travel is cycling especially with the expansion of bike lanes and bike share programs. This is borne out in this survey. Almost two-thirds responded that they would like to have some form of secure bicycle storage whether indoor, outdoor or in a separate enclosure and 42 per cent would pay more for the last option.

Over half of those surveyed want to have access to space and supplies to fix their bikes and 36 per cent would pay more for this amenity.

Although this article doesn’t cover electric vehicles, we have extensive data on charging stations, including tenant preferences related to their location, reservation systems and payment options.

WFH amenities

With many people working from home on any given day, it is no wonder the No. 1 amenity in this survey was in-suite, high-speed wireless internet access: 85 per cent want it and 55 per cent will pay more for it.

Tenants are also seeking shared spaces outside of their units to support their work. We discovered there is a higher preference for bookable spaces - whether for private meeting rooms or work pods - rather than using these types of spaces on a first come / first serve basis.

Additionally, 58 per cent of respondents expressed interest in video conferencing facilities, while 48 per cent showed interest in access to podcast recording spaces.

Food amenities

Ranking near the top of the list of most preferred amenities is a convenience store – 84 per cent of respondents would like the ability to pick up a missing ingredient or a quick snack without having to go far. Likewise, 60 per cent would like to see an Aisle24 or a similar cashier-less grocery store in their rental community.

BBQ areas are high on the priority list as well with 72 per cent wanting one for common use and 65 per cent wanting a private, bookable space to cook up their summertime skewers. Approximately the same percentage of people are willing to pay more in rent for either of these options.

If it is an order-in kind of day, 65 per cent indicated a preference for food delivery reception space so that a tenant’s order from DoorDash or UberEATS doesn’t get mixed up with the neighbour’s Amazon order.

In order to maximize the impact of budget and space, it is necessary for housing providers to understand what type of amenities tenants prefer.