Category: Case Study

Moda Living has launched a new data-driven proptech platform to revolutionise the way its residents interact with their energy consumption and sustainable behaviours, helping its communities save money and boosting the sustainability of Moda’s UK-wide portfolio of neighbourhoods in first for the UK build-to-rent sector.

The rental living developer and operator has worked with MyModa app developer Spike Global and ESG technology partner Utopi to give residents access to live energy usage data around the clock.

All Moda Living neighbourhoods are equipped with Utopi smart sensors throughout their homes and amenity spaces, which monitor environmental factors such as air quality, temperature and energy usage. In the last six months alone, these sensors have captured more than 105 million data points at Moda Living sites. With a pipeline of more than 18,400 new rental homes, the service will eventually be capturing 18.7 million data points every day across its portfolio.

For the first time, the new service will put this data in the hands of Moda residents to give them live readings from the sensors throughout their building, providing them with a range of new benefits.

Residents are increasingly conscious of their impact on the planet, and the new partnership will allow them to monitor their carbon emissions, ranking them within their neighbourhood, helping change behaviours, supporting residents to play their part in the journey to Net Zero Carbon. This pioneering approach will connect Moda Living residents to their building, including more data insights into how their homes and amenity spaces are performing. Operating teams at Moda Living sites will use the new tech to incentivise energy-efficient behaviour with events and competitions, boosting overall sustainability as well as engaging with residents on an issue that matters to them.

The platform will also provide residents with personalised hints and tips they can use to make small changes that will have a big impact on their utility spend. In the midst of the UK’s cost of living crisis, the new technology will help protect residents from rising energy costs and feel in control of their spending, contributing to overall wellbeing.

Moda will also be able to use the data from the Spike/Utopi partnership to set its own targets for reduction in consumption and spot anomalies. Residents with poor energy scores, for example, will be identified and offered advice and support to reduce their costs.

The service will be rolled out across Moda’s portfolio of next generation rental living platforms, from its city centre build-to-rent towers to its new suburban single family homes platform, Casa by Moda. Across its range of living platforms, Moda has a pipeline of 18,400 new homes for rent across the UK. The new tech service will help tens of thousands of renters monitor their energy costs in real-time and enhance the sustainability of their lifestyles.

As the first operator to engage with the new partnership with Spike and Utopi, Moda worked closely with both businesses to design a product that will drive down carbon emissions from Moda’s real estate portfolio while giving residents unprecedented access and control of live information about their homes and wider neighbourhoods.

It forms part of Moda’s commitment to embracing new and leading technologies across its operations to support its ESG strategy, Next Generation Futures and help residents live their happiest, healthiest lives at its rental neighbourhoods across the UK.

Dan Brooks, Director at Moda Living, said: “We are extremely proud to be the first build-to-rent operator in the UK to roll out this crucial technology to our residents and neighbourhoods. As a long-term operator of our developments across the UK, we have a responsibility to our people and our planet to run our UK-wide portfolio as efficiently as possible. We are also dedicated to protecting and enhancing the wellbeing of the teams and residents that live, work and play in our rental communities. This new tie up with Spike and Utopi adds a new level to this, enabling us to communicate transparently about our green performance and help them keep energy costs down as the cost of living soars across the country.” 

Utopi’s Co-Founder & CMO, Ben Roberts, said: “We have been very keen to get the building data we collect into the hands of the residents for a while, we know it has a major impact on a building’s sustainability performance, as the residents are the ones in control of their consumption. We’re thrilled to be rolling our tie up with Spike Global out for the first time with Moda Living – a business dedicated to sustainability and wellbeing in that will champion the benefits our new service provides both the business and its residents.”

Spike Global CEO, Jeremy Heath-Smith, said: “Our clients are increasingly concerned about the climate emergency and not only need to understand their building’s performance but want to use that information to actively engage and encourage residents to reduce their CO2 output and energy consumption. By partnering with Utopi and rolling this service out with Moda, we will be able to make this information readily available via our Spike Living portal, encouraging everyone to make a positive change.”

Building strong new communities is at the heart of what Pocket Living is all about – the developer specialises in creating affordable homes for first time buyers in the London boroughs where they live or work. At 20% below market price, the compact, carefully designed homes come with access to a wide range of shared spaces and amenities that help residents get to know their neighbours – an ambition that is perfectly supported by Spike Global’s resident engagement portal, Spike Living.

Leading resident engagement and property management software provider Spike Global creates white-labelled versions of its Spike Living portal for every client’s particular building or development – and Pocket Living has just signed up to put the portal into use at its latest housing development, Addiscombe Grove in East Croydon, which will be welcoming its first residents in the coming weeks.

Pocket Living has a successful track record of working with Spike on a number of previous developments across London, and is keen to roll out the software for future projects having seen how well residents engage with the portal. Across its developments more than 85% of residents have downloaded the app and are using the portal to make everyday living easier.

There are over 6,000 visits to the portal each month, and some of the most popular forums have accrued nearly a thousand posts and interactions, with the two most used groups being My Community-VR and Harbard Close Residents, which support people who live at Pocket Living’s Varcoe Road development in Southwark and Harbard Close in Barking.

Jeremy Heath-Smith, CEO of Spike Global, is delighted with the uptake among Pocket Living residents: “Across Pocket Living’s portfolio there have been extremely high uptakes of portal usage”.

Spike Living can be used in a wide range of ways – it’s invaluable for the everyday, practical things such as reporting a fault or arranging for a parcel to be collected, as well as for booking the communal spaces that Pocket Living is well known for, whether that’s a co-working desk or a fitness room.

“It can also do so much more,” says Jeremy. “The forums and social groups enable people to meet like-minded new friends who live in their development– the portal is only open to genuine residents, so it’s a safer and more localised alternative to conventional social media.”

“The portal also enables residents to get to know their surroundings by allowing local businesses, from restaurants to cleaners, to offer exclusive discounts to a development’s residents. All of this helps residents to feel more at home, more quickly. For the managers of a building it provides a straightforward way to engage with residents and make them feel valued, which will ultimately result in them staying there longer.”

Lorna Evans, Head of Customer Experience at Pocket Living, comments: “As Spike Living has already worked so successfully at many of our other sites it was the obvious choice for our latest development in East Croydon. At Addiscombe Grove we are promoting a real community feel with a landscaped communal roof terrace, Nordic garden and Hidden garden, each with fantastic views over south London and which are perfect for socialising and meeting neighbours. We also offer a wellness room, residents’ lounge, and co-working space, that can all be booked via the portal.”

“But beyond the practicalities, we also try to foster a spirit of togetherness among our residents, from giving them a welcoming drinks reception to helping them to set up a residents’ management committee to decide how their building should be run. The Spike Living software gives us another way of helping people to settle in.”

Leading resident engagement and property management software provider Spike Global has launched its first project in Germany, enabling residents to get the most out of renting a home through Cospaces provider POHA House.

Cospaces is a concept that offers people the option to live, work and come together under one roof; streamlining all aspects of life, celebrating spaces, experiences and connections within neighbourhoods. Residents at POHA House can choose to share as much or as little space with their neighbours as they wish, with a range of apartments on offer from Flatshare, Flatshare-ensuite, POHA Studio (or regular-sized), and Big Studio, with the added benefit that all bills are included. 

The first POHA House is directly across from Bremer Platz in the centre of the historic German city of Münster, a central area that has a young, multicultural scene. Inside, there are two sizes of studio apartments, to suit one or two people, plus community spaces, including a huge terrace for chilling, working, or exercising. The second, which will open shortly in Aachen, offers a variety of rooms and apartments, with further developments in Essen and Hamburg opening in 2024, and plans for expansion into the UK housing market.

Spike Global is delighted to have been chosen to provide its market-leading end-to-end tenancy management software solution Spike Lettings, which streamlines and simplifies the initial process of moving into a rental property, allowing prospective residents to easily find and reserve their ideal apartment online. 

Once moved in, Spike’s resident engagement portal, Spike Living, provides a user-friendly app-based interface to help residents make the most of the flexible, Cospaces lifestyle. With so many facilities available to be enjoyed, having a reliable method of booking is essential for stress-free living. The Spike Living portal, which is completely tailored to each individual building and its facilities, means that residents can check availability and book straight from their phones – whether that’s ensuring there’s a washing machine free to do their laundry, booking a desk in the shared workspace or a private meeting room, or reserving the meditation room to destress after a long day.

Cospaces have many benefits – in particular the way it provides a ready-made social life. POHA House makes use of Spike Living to ensure that everyone is instantly aware when events are planned and where they take place, booked easily with a few clicks. They are also empowered to start making their own fun – Spike Living offers a safe alternative to conventional social media, giving residents the chance to meet and get to know each other, as well as arranging their own events, with the knowledge that only their neighbours have access to the network.

Jeremy Heath-Smith, CEO of Spike Global, explains: “Loneliness can be a big problem when living in a city, but both the Cospaces concept and our Spike Living software present innovative solutions to this problem. The Cospaces model offers shared spaces and shared experiences that aim to turn strangers into friends. Spike Living makes sure that the shared aspect of that lifestyle runs smoothly, avoiding friction between residents. It also helps people to get to know the neighbourhood beyond the walls of the apartment complex, by presenting residents with special offers and incentives from local businesses. We are looking forward to working with POHA House and supporting its expansion within Germany and beyond.”

Co-Founder and CEO of POHA House, Yianni Tsitouras, selected Spike Global for its track record in bringing residents and building managers together. “There is a massive shift in what we need in housing and what our homes should look and feel like. For instance, Co-living has developed into what we know as Cospaces, where people can connect in various settings. For POHA, we cared about having a software partner that is versatile and flexible and able to cover all our needs in one, easy-to-use tool for our team and residents. In a competitive marketplace, Spike continues to do all that without failing to look exceptionally cool.”

One Crown Place is a newly completed development of 246 apartments spread across two strikingly contemporary 28-storey and 33-storey towers on the edge of the City of London, just three minutes’ walk from Liverpool Street Station. As well as one-bedroom to three-bedroom homes, it includes a wealth of community facilities, which is why a robust resident engagement portal was absolutely vital.

Leading resident engagement and property management software provider Spike Global has risen to the challenge by creating a completely bespoke version of its Spike Living portal for the development. Fully tailored to the facilities that are available at One Crown Place, the software will help new residents to make the most of all the on-site facilities as well as get to know the local area through discounts on goods and services nearby.

The development, designed by KPF architects, is intended to be a complete new community in the heart of London and is well-equipped with facilities that are available for residents. These include a quiet workhub with bookable workstations and meeting areas; a series of communal spaces which will be used for meetings, talks and free craft-focused workshops; a screening room for a personal cinema experience; a well-equipped gym; a terrace garden with carefully divided outdoor rooms and quiet corners and a dining room and adjacent kitchen for celebrations and gatherings.

With such a wide range of facilities on offer, along with a 24-hour concierge service to book tickets and deal with mail, One Crown Place needed an equally flexible resident engagement portal to ensure that everything runs smoothly – so the company turned to Spike Global.

Jeremy Heath-Smith, CEO of Spike Global, explains: “Our software makes everyday living both more straightforward and more exciting. On one hand it can enable all kinds of everyday transactions to happen swiftly and simply via a smartphone app, whether it’s arranging for a parcel to be collected, booking a desk for the day or reporting a maintenance issue. Meanwhile, it can also open up a world of fun activities, enabling residents to book a workout or a workshop, or discover what the local area has to offer through exclusive residents’ discounts on everything from haircuts to restaurant meals.”

Spike’s portal also enables residents to connect with each other, providing a safer and more localised alternative to conventional social media, as it is only open to individuals who live in a particular building, helping newcomers to meet their neighbours while staying safe from strangers and scammers.

Caroline Decleves, Residence Manager at One Crown Place, says: “We are aiming to provide the feeling of a luxury five-star hotel, with beautifully finished apartments and high-quality facilities. Spike Living provides a user-friendly way for residents to engage with everything that is on offer and helps everything to run like clockwork.”

Wembley Point, an iconic building and long-standing feature of the Northwest London skyline, is being transformed into a modern live/work space. The landmark three-sided, 22-storey tower block on Harrow Road, Wembley, is one of the London Borough of Brent’s oldest skyscrapers. The state-of-the-art Build to Rent scheme, now known as WEM Tower, is set to welcome its first new residents in January 2022, and will see its developer CANADA ISRAEL partner with Spike, the leading resident engagement and property management software provider, to create a truly local, social community among young working professionals looking to move there.

A first for the Wembley area, an all-encompassing resident’s app will be accessed by those who will call WEM Tower home helping to create the sense of communal living that has been missed dearly during the pandemic and lockdowns.

CANADA ISRAEL Group is a real estate investing company specialising in initiating, creating and improving properties in Israel and throughout the world. For over two decades they have been designing the urban landscape in high-demand and dominant locations. CANADA ISRAEL has created a hotel-style living environment for young professionals, with 440 rental homes on offer. Ranging from 25 square metre studios to 39 square metre one-bedroom apartments, the development offers a winning combination of compact, maintenance-free and keenly priced private space in a thriving and well-connected regeneration area with an unprecedented level of services and amenities.

One of the effects of the pandemic has been a change of focus for many younger renters, who are now looking for homes that also provide a sense of community. Rather than being content with a cramped flat share, young professionals are looking for a mix of private space and community living – snapping up apartments that offer more than just a place to reside.

Spike’s property management and resident engagement portal, Spike Living, will be the gateway for residents to access all of the facilities on offer, all with a few taps on their phone. The white-labelled version of the app is completely tailored to WEM Tower, and amongst the many services and amenities available, residents can book private meeting rooms in the co-working space, join a fitness class at the gym, book a cleaning service or hair salon appointment, or get a notification about happy hour at the bar.

Ofer Feldman, Managing Partner at CANADA ISRAEL, explained: “We are creating a high-end residential development aimed at young professionals, with a range of services and facilities that match the scale of ambition shown in other local urban renewal projects, and playing our part in building for Brent’s bright future. Spike’s software is an efficient tool that provides a user-friendly interface to manage everything successfully round the clock. Spike’s technology is connecting everything together and meeting the needs of this generation of renters who are looking for far more than just a place to lay their heads.”

As well as enabling residents to manage their tenancy from their phone and enjoy the wider lifestyle on offer that WEM Tower provides, Spike Living will also connect them with their neighbours – offering a way to make new friends and develop a community.

Jeremy Heath-Smith, CEO of Spike, comments: “Studies have shown that the younger generation are looking for a home that will also be a community, and potentially a workplace and leisure venue as well. WEM Tower provides everything they need for the perfect work-life balance, and we’re proud to provide the technology to enable them to make the most of everything on offer as well as make new friends within their building.”

Built in 1965, the building was the home of London Weekend Television in the 1960s and 70s, before being used for a variety of office purposes. The residential conversion, which will open for viewing in January, will feature eight different open-plan apartment layouts with an exciting urban vibe using industrial materials including engineered oak and exposed concrete. The development is just 100m from Stonebridge Park station in Zone 3, which is served by both London Overground services and the Bakerloo Line, with journey times of just 25 minutes to Oxford Circus.

European Investment Manager, Europa Capital has expanded its partnership with Spike Global by introducing the Spike Lettings and Spike Living software into two of it’s residential apartment blocks in Sheffield and London. Following the successful introduction of the solutions to its Anaconda Cut development in Manchester, the Investment Manager decided to roll out the technology into two other build-to-rent complexes Velocity Village in Sheffield and One Lampton Road in Hounslow.

Spike developed white label versions of its property management and resident engagement software Spike Living and its revolutionary end-to-end tenancy management software solution Spike Lettings especially for Europa’s property, which are designed to make the renting experience easier and more straightforward for both landlords and tenants. Spike Lettings helps to make the initial tenancy arrangements straightforward, while Spike Living provides around-the-clock communication between management and tenants that makes life easier in a multitude of ways.

James Pellington, Building Manager at Anaconda Cut, said: “Spike’s software is simple and intuitive to use, and will be second nature to the generations who have been brought up running their lives on their phones. Spike Living brings the process of being a tenant into the 21^st century, and provides a convenient, modern method of communication that matches the contemporary convenience of these stylish new apartments.”

Tenants can use the Spike Living app in a variety of ways, from organising all of the practical stuff like keeping track of rental payments and reporting maintenance issues, to booking a laundry slot, opening their front doors or checking whether the concierge has received their parcel. It also has great potential to help newcomers to town make new friends, find local activities and get to know their neighbours, whether that’s in the virtual world or the real one. Unlike normal social media, Spike Living enables those new to the area to meet like-minded people within their own buildings, without being at risk from scammers and strangers.

Jeremy Heath-Smith, CEO of Spike Global, comments: “The use of our software at Velocity Village and One Lampton Road will help to create great communication and promote a smooth, professional relationship between tenants and landlord – avoiding the friction that can so often occur. Given that one of the leading causes of problems during tenancies is poor communication, having an instant, easy and stress-free way to facilitate those vital conversations has already proven its worth.”

Spike Living can be personalised for every client, so it is always set up to the specific requirements of both the management and the building. As well as accessing services available onsite, it can also be linked up with external partners to provide additional services, from bedding packs and weekly cleans to pizza delivery and beauty services, helping renters to live their best life in the city.

Nido, Europe’s leading PBSA operator, has partnered with leading resident engagement and building management software provider Spike Global to launch a new smart app for residents across its portfolio. Launched at the beginning of the academic year, Nido has become one of the first student accommodation operators to provide its residents with an intuitive mobile app to manage their daily needs.

Following research and feedback from residents, it was imperative that utilising technology would enhance their experience and ensure the seamless operations and management of a PBSA building.

Acting as a ‘one stop shop’, the app provides a multitude of features including direct online communications with the residence team, viewing upcoming events, reservation of amenity spaces, management of deliveries and maintenance requests as well as viewing brand partners, local guides, and associated exclusive Nido promotions. 

With online security posing one of the largest risks to students, the app has been designed to keep users safe and secure. In the event of a security breach or lost phone, the onsite management teams at each of the Nido properties have the ability to ‘pause’ residents’ accounts, until the issues have been resolved and cleared.

Following a year of uncertainty, the app provides a safe online space for residents to communicate with each other and become familiar with their new neighbours, through forums and real-time chat rooms. This is in addition to the in-person interaction Nido facilitates.  Students can choose to attend events physically, online as well as communicate with the management team at the reception desk by direct messaging on the app, all channels of communication are available to be used at the discretion of each student’s needs. 

Nido prides itself on putting resident mental and physical health as a key priority and the facilitation of communication – online or in-person, has been instrumental in the company’s operational success. 

During the first two weeks of being live, the app has already been downloaded by more than 70 per cent of Nido’s residents. Once downloaded, residents can easily join groups and forums to meet each other and start building their community.

Darren Gardner, COO of Nido, commented, “As one of the first PBSA operators to introduce this type of platform, we are pleased to offer this high-end product to our valued residents. The wellbeing of both residents and our onsite teams is our top priority and allowing a safe method of communication whilst encouraging interaction, is a great milestone for the company.”

Jeremy Heath-Smith, CEO of Spike Global, commented, “We are delighted to be working with Nido and believe the app will help students find their feet – enabling them to meet other students in the building, as well as helping them to cope with all the practical aspects of moving away from home for the very first time. The app has been designed to be straightforward to use, so whatever worries they might have about the new term, managing their student accommodation won’t be one of them.”

When new build-to-rent brand The James opens its doors in Liverpool this week, 100 fully-furnished apartments will be filling up with new tenants, all looking to settle in and feel at home – a process that will be much easier thanks to its partnership with Spike Global.

The innovative resident engagement and building management software provider has worked with The James to create a white-labelled version of its revolutionary end-to-end tenancy management software solution Spike Lettings and resident engagement app Spike Living that have been tailored perfectly to the needs of residents at the luxury hotel-style residence in James Street. 

Spike Lettings allows prospective tenants to easily browse and find available apartments online, make an initial enquiry, and progress through the reservation stage, all the way through to moving in. Once in, Spike Living provides new tenants with one simple, intuitive app, allowing them to communicate with the management and with each other – making life easier in a multitude of ways. From booking laundry services, reporting a maintenance issue or checking if the concierge has received a parcel, the app makes routine communication quick and easy. Not that it’s just for the practical things in life – The James’ residents’ app also has the potential to help tenants make friends, find activities and get to know their neighbours, whether that’s in the virtual world or the real one.

At The James, apartments will be let for periods of just a few days or weeks, or for the long term, which means that there will be all kinds of residents moving in and out, looking to hit the ground running in terms of their social life. With a set-up that is designed so that tenants can live, work and socialise on site, having a truly localised way of meeting like-minded people will be more important than ever – and Spike Global’s app, Spike Living, is streets ahead of social media options such as Facebook and Nextdoor, which find it hard to keep out spammers and strangers. As The James’ residents’ app will be downloadable solely by residents at The James, it builds a genuinely safe and local community at the same time providing practical help such as being able to easily view tenancy agreements or check when rent payments are due.

We spoke with one of the Founders who explained why they have chosen Spike Global to provide the app for the new venture: “Our brand is very much rooted in stress-free, self-contained luxury living – when people move in with us they have everything they need, right down to crockery and cutlery – so we needed software that would provide a similarly high-quality and comprehensive service.”

“We use the Spike Lettings software to help get our tenants on board, and are confident that the Spike Living app will support them as they settle in. In many ways, renting with us is like living in a five star hotel, with all the amenities available at the touch of a button. We developed The James, which will also be launching in Manchester and Sheffield in the near future, because we wanted to bridge the gap between the tenant and the landlord – a relationship that is often broken and lacking in trust in the traditional rental market. At our properties, The James brand is the landlord – one that is always available and ready to take action thanks to Spike Living.”

Jeremy Heath-Smith, CEO of Spike Global, comments: “The strength of Spike Lettings and Spike Living is the extent to which they can be personalised for every client, providing a building and community-specific experience, tailored exactly to the facilities and options that are available. We not only create a unique platform for our clients, but we also provide dedicated back-up and support every step of the way. We are delighted to be working with The James, and we know it will help tenants there to settle in, liaise with their landlord and find their place in the community with ease.”

Partnering with innovative resident engagement and building management software provider Spike Global, The Crown Estate has implemented an end-to-end residential portal at its latest development Morley House on Regent Street in London’s West End. The new software provides a complete property communication and management solution for residents at the 44-apartment residence.

Spike Global has worked closely with Morley House to create a bespoke version of its resident engagement app Spike Living, specifically tailored to the needs of residents. Opening up communication lines between the resident and management, the app further enhances the lifestyle available at the development, whilst serving as a convenient central place for resident’s everyday needs.

Morley House offers apartments to rent with hotel-style amenities, accessible via the new residents’ portal. The app is designed to create a sense of community, with  residents able to book services including the residents’ lounge and screening room, access a 24-hour concierge/security at the touch of a button, handle maintenance issues, view information updates and notifications, such as fire safety procedures and residents’ manuals, as well manage their car club membership.

The app also enables residents to access partner promotions, while an integrated partnership with PingLocker allows them to book apartment cleaning services and beauty treatments in the local area.

Charlotte Moss, Asset Manager at The Crown Estate, comments: “The Morley House residents’ app has been well received, not only by the residents, who have the convenience of accessing a wide range of services from their mobile device, but also by the concierge and management team.”

Jeremy Heath-Smith, CEO of Spike Global, comments: “In working with the team at The Crown Estate, our focus has been on implementing a platform that truly puts luxury lifestyle at the heart of the residence’s operations. With such a wide range of amenities and services available to residents it was important for us to implement a seamless communication tool while enhancing the high-end user experience. We are delighted to be working with Morley House and we hope residents will feel connected, cared for and valued in their homes.”