The mobile ones choose the PRS market

7 out of 10 people who choose to rent a PRS unit admit that their lifestyle accounts for professional mobility and remote work - according to a survey conducted in February this year by Resi4Rent, Poland's largest subscription housing platform.

Most of the respondents admit that they decide to move once every 2-3 years (about 67%), 18% - once a year and about 2% - more often than that. What’s important, only the youngest generation (aged 18-25) moves once a quarter or more often and they also make up the majority of respondents moving house every six months (about 63%, compared to about 38% in the 26-35 age group). As for the gender of respondents, men display a greater propensity to move more often than once a year. Women prefer to move once a year and once every 2-3 years.

At the same time, more than 73% of all respondents don’t perceive it as a problem to move house again if they receive a favourable job offer in another location.

Additional work space is also important, and in the era of hybrid work this along with internet access, is one of the most frequently mentioned criteria by apartment seekers. When asked "Do you need a separate workspace in your apartment?" about 75% of respondents gave a positive answer.

"Our survey is cyclical and it constitutes a valuable source of information about what tenants expect from the rental market. Another survey, conducted at the beginning of the year, confirmed how mobile our clients are in terms of professional development and how much the nature of their work affects their daily needs. We see that rental decisions depend increasingly on the flexibility on the part of the landlord in terms of possible relocation and additional services in line with the tenants’ lifestyle-related needs. In response, we offer, among other things, the possibility of exchanging a currently rented unit for a subscription apartment in another city, which is more and more popular with customers. After consulting with the Resi4Rent community, we are also introducing co-working rooms in each new development which is currently in the design phase," says Alicja Kosciesza, director of marketing and sales, Resi4Rent.

Towards PRS - the main motivations of customers

Institutional lease is becoming an increasingly popular alternative to the private rental market. The survey showed what factors most often motivate people looking for a rental property to choose an offer from a professional company.

Most of the tenants of subscription housing admitted that they chose this form of rental because it is the best solution for their current situation. This was the answer indicated by nearly 65% of respondents. For more than a third of Resi4Rent's clients (35%), the motivation for renting in the PRS market was the lack of sufficient funds to purchase an apartment. It turns out that this problem concerns not only the generation of today's 18-25-year-olds, who are just starting their professional career but also, to a comparable extent, those aged 26 to 35 (these age groups account for about 44 and 46% of respondents who indicated this answer, respectively). Lack of funds to buy an apartment and reluctance to take out a mortgage loan were cited most often by childless couples (accounting for more than 46% of those choosing these answers) and singles (about 41%) as reasons for renting.

About 19% of tenants made a decision to rent an apartment because they want to live as close to work as possible - among them, the majority are 26-35-year-olds. About 16% of respondents value freedom from commitments, in this case from long-term contracts and a mortgage loan (contracts in Resi4Rent are concluded for a period of 3 months to a year) - this is especially true of the 18-25-year-old generation (more than 45% among respondents who indicated this motivation for renting). 

The survey shows that the above arguments resonate better with men, who accounted for more than half of all those choosing these answers. Taking into account the type of household, proximity to work and the possibility of a shorter-term contract are more often emphasized by singles than by childless couples and families with children.

In addition, about 19% of the surveyed residents of Resi4Rent housing estates, point out that when renting, it is important that they do not have to bear the costs of finishing, furnishing and repairing the premises. This answer is most often chosen by women (more than 53%). This is an important issue primarily for singles (about 44%), followed by childless couples (about 40%) and to a much lesser extent families with children (over 8%).

Poland and Europe on the move

Private rented sector services undoubtedly help adapt to a new situation. More than half of the respondents chose their newly rented accommodation as a result of a career change and/or migration. This is indicated by the responses of the survey participants, who pointed to moving to another country (24.23%), changing jobs (13.56%) and starting life in another city (18.44%) as the main reasons for their recent change of place of residence, respectively. The survey shows that the decision to change the country of residence is most often made by those aged 26-35 (more than half of all indications for this answer), followed by the group aged 18-25, and slightly less often by respondents in the 36-45 age bracket. The trend of moving for professional reasons mostly concerns those aged 26 to 35 (about 47% of responses) and in the case of the 18-25 and 36-45 age range, it is comparably distributed (about 23% in both cases). At the stage of starting life in a new city, an offer from the PRS market was chosen most often by the youngest residents (18-25 years old - about 56% of respondents chose this answer) and those in the 26-35 age bracket (more than 32%).

Moreover, one in seven respondents (13.2%) mentioned the need to enhance their quality of life by improving the standard of housing. Finding a more attractive location (about 9% of responses) and expanding the family or roommate group (about 7%) were also among the other most frequently cited reasons for moving house.

Greater mobility and openness to change the place of work or residence is a pan-European trend that is perceived positively by more than half of Europeans (58%), especially in the context of European integration and the labour market. Surveys covering member states show that the advantages of such a career move are noticed by representatives of all age groups and professions, with young and better-educated people who are in a favourable situation in the labour market being the most convinced. For 40% of employees who decided to relocate, it was a chance to improve their qualifications and acquire new skills, and more than half appreciated aspects expanding beyond their professional life1. Also in Poland, the percentage of people more likely to apply for job offers that involve frequent business trips or relocation is significant - according to data from Pracuj.pl, 45% of candidates would be happy to consider such positions.

"The PRS sector is responding to the expectations of a generation that prioritizes gathering life and work experience over owning their own home or needs more time to raise funds to buy a property, as well as those who choose to migrate for various reasons. If the move is to lead to getting a better job or ensuring better living conditions, it is important to be sure that everything goes as planned. Our buildings are prepared and managed in such a way as to make settling in easier - both for Poles moving to larger cities as well as for citizens of other countries looking for a new place to live in Poland. In the case of subscription apartments, clients appreciate the transparent provisions of the contract and the comfort of living in a new, fully furnished unit. Technical service, monitoring and community-integrating events present in each development guarantee a standard that meets the market needs", sums up Slawomir Imianowski, president of Resi4Rent.

The Resi4Rent survey was conducted among people who are already using PRS services (rental or accommodation) in buildings owned by the company, in 6 cities: Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Gdańsk, Poznań and Łódź. The survey was conducted in a form of a questionnaire in February 2024 on a sample of 725 people. The questionnaires targeted residents between the ages of 18 and 60, more than 80% of whom were professionally active. Most respondents belonged to the 26-35 age group.