Thames Tap editor Alan Bunce took a tour of Reading’s latest Build-to-Rent development.
For those of us who bought their first home in the 1980s, the modern concept of living-as-a-service is a culture shock.
But with more than 78 per cent of the homes at the 598-apartment Ebb & Flow development in Reading now let, it seems the right time to drop by and have a look to try to understand the way young professionals seek to live.
The two buildings, part of the Station Hill development in Reading, comprise the town’s latest and largest Build-to-Rent development.
Of the 598 apartments, more than 465 are now occupied and, on my weekday exploration, residents were visible doing everything you might expect in the communal areas – talking in small groups, working on laptops and working out in the gym.
But while the daily routines are one thing, the weekly, monthly and yearly process of keeping Ebb & Flow a living, breathing experience for the rental occupants is really what it is all about.
Existing Reading groups like business networking group the First Friday Club have used the ground floor space in Ebb (the building on the left when you’re in Friar Street) and, under a scheme called Neighbourhood Heroes, local independent firms are invited in to engage with residents and promote themselves.
In fact, Siren Brewery on the ground floor is so well integrated that the Ebb & Flow app offers 10 per cent discount to residents. Siren even invited Ebb & Flow residents in for an exclusive early look with 50 per cent off when it was first opened.
A regular working from home lunch where residents, normally focussed on their laptops, can meet in person illustrates how life in front of a screen creates a demand for time without one. And in-person meeting seems to be key to life in Ebb & Flow, despite all the technology around you.
While the tech underlines much of the operation of the buildings, it seems it’s the human elements people are attracted by.
I was given a tour by general manager Rachelle Bownes, assistant community manager Mia Lopiano and community manager Michael McGarry (pictured left to right in top image).
From the regular social events to the six-week fitness challenge to the yoga classes to the markets and events to be held in the newly-created public realm outside, the actual apartment you live in is only part of a wider lifestyle.
For decades, property agents have talked of office occupiers moving to Reading from London for the lower rents but it barely happened. Now it appears to be happening in the residential market but not just for the lower rents.
Mia Lopiano said life at Ebb & Flow allows people to mix with the like-minded.
She said: “People see Reading as a great alternative to London and you’ve got the Elizabeth Line and the station.”
She acknowledges a hotel vibe is appealing to many of the residents and says she has seen groups of people out in the town who only know each other through being neighbours in Ebb & Flow.
It’s clear residents are making new friends and contacts, have a central location and the train, bus and airport links.
The physical surroundings include several roof terraces, enclosed outdoor space on the ground floor, spaces for private functions which can be booked including the Cozy Lounge, complete with a giant screen, a studio for yoga and, as is almost standard nowadays, a gym. Dogs are allowed too.
According to Rachelle Bownes, many people among the largely British residents move to Ebb & Flow simply for the social aspect. Some have made their decision based on the events and benefits of life there, rather than just the apartments themselves.
The studio apartment is small as you would imagine; a bedroom, lounge and kitchen in one room. The one and two-bedroom apartments are obviously larger but the fact the space in each home is generally limited lends itself to the whole point about Build-to-Rent, ie, larger gatherings of people can be accommodated in communal lounges and terraces.
The home is your day-to-day living – and possibly working – area. Socialising is done in places designed for it. And since there are several of those, indoors and out, I totally get the appeal of living this way.
But it seems to me you need to start your adult life to fully get it. For those of us born in the early 1960s, this is a different way to exist and a tricky one to adopt at this stage!
Rents start at £1,500 a month for a studio flat and the few three-bedroom apartments in the scheme start at £2,725.
But of course, what you are paying for is not just the physical infrastructure, although you are spared many of the responsibilities of the world of home ownership.
If the washing machine or the oven breaks down, help is not just at hand, it’s all part of the deal. Rubbish and recycling goes out via chutes so remembering the day to put the right bin out is not a concern. And of course, one of the staples of modern living, parcel deliveries are taken care of with the help of technology a system of secure storage.
Rachelle, Michael and Mia and their colleagues (who all seem remarkably happy in their jobs) are tasked with trying to give residents everything they need. But the impression you get is that that job seems to have evolved into making them aware of things they didn’t know they needed.
Soon new restaurants will be announced in the empty units in Friars Walk and next year the public realm will be fully opened. That’s when the wider public gets to integrate with the Station Hill development through regular events.
Planning is also well under way on phase three of Station Hill so while this is a step change from the days of Western Tower, Top Rank, Friars Walk shopping centre and the Garrard Street car park, there’s a lot more to come.
I can remember reporting on The Oracle when it opened and being told by its bosses the public didn’t realise what was about to be unleashed on them. Successful as that has been, it didn’t represent a new way of life.
But with the offices at the ONE Station Hill office scheme, designed to be the town’s best, and from seeing how the Ebb & Flow scheme operates, this whole area looks like a step into the future, both of living and working.
Inside the Ebb & Flow there is a quiet buzz about the place, evident both from staff and residents. Once the public realm is fully operational, it would seem that feeling will spread across the scheme.
I won’t be selling up to move in to Ebb & Flow but I’m beginning to understand why so many do.
See gallery below.
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Interesting. It seems the main reasons people are choosing Ebb and Flow are the same reasons people used to go to the office – socialising, networking and a facilities team on hand to sort issues! The difference is they’re now paying to rent and heat and service the space their employers used to pay for but it doesn’t seem as though the penny has dropped yet. It will!!!