UKO’s ‘Thriving Community’ Philosophy Proves Worth for Landlords

Build-to-rent and co-living operator UKO has reached a milestone of 16 assets in Sydney alone since its first site opening in Stanmore in 2018. 

In just four years, and during a challenging Covid economy, UKO has seen a rapid growth in its management portfolio, adding sites in locations including Camperdown, Newtown, West Ryde, Top Ryde, Surry Hills, Kensington and Ultimo.

Co-founder Rhys Williams said: “Our number one focus for UKO is around building a thriving community within our sites with our ‘community host’ who is trained to deliver the best possible experience to their customer—the renter.”

UKO specialises in property management for rental assets, from 50 to 250 units held in one line by private developers, high net-worth owners and institutional property funds.

“We focus on working with developers and landlords who are not operators and we have proven we can enhance returns beyond a typical property manager,” Williams said.

“We draw on 20 years of experience in the serviced apartment sector under the Veriu and Punthill brands. There are some great crossovers between our businesses. 

▲ A room in UKO Stanmore in Sydney.

“A properly trained UKO community host can deliver excellent outcomes for the customer while at the same time offering the landlord the commercial benefits of absolute focus when it comes to revenue management, asset management and financial reporting supported by the UKO brand.” 

UKO, a top four coliving operator globally as recognised as a finalist in the world Coliving Awards, has an additional pipeline of about 1500 apartments under various stages of development Australia-wide, slated for completion by mid-2024 with an average of one property opening per month.

Sites are in major capital cities as well as regional centres, bringing the total management to 2500 units.

“The growth in the UKO platform has been very pleasing for us and we have achieved this by generating excellent returns and keeping our promise to deliver for our landlords,” Williams said. 

“As we learn more about our business, we are getting interested in maximising yields between co-living and build-to-rent apartments for our landlords.”

UKO is supported by Belong Technology, a property tech app for building communities and property management.

Belong Technology allows guests to post their profile and network within their apartment complex helping to reduce loneliness in apartment living. Through the app guests can form fitness groups, kids’ playgroups and do business networking.

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