The Build-to-Rent (BTR) residential sector is rapidly gaining popularity in major Australian cities. As the fastest growing Australian BTR market, Melbourne saw several premium-grade projects opening in 2024 with many more planned. According to research from Franklin St, currently there are 5,398 BTR apartments in Australia, around 10% of the 51,579-unit pipeline, across 143 projects. More than 20 BTR platforms already exist in Australia, comprising both established international brands as well as ambitious local operators, developing BTR projects and aiming to establish multi-site portfolios.

In early 2023, Local: Residential began construction of its first Melbourne-based property in partnership with 2 major banks, culminating in the official opening of Local: Residential Kensington in December 2024. The impressive quality of the development and timely construction cycle have proven major inner-city BTR projects can be built and opened efficiently.

Local: Residential’s experienced management team considered technology as service differentiator. Having evaluated 8 leading Property Management Systems (PMS) and various tenant Apps for its operations, ultimately they selected an integrated PMS/App platform, Rezpage from Rezpage Limited, a division of Xn Global Systems.

“Local: Residential set out to find a partner to help us deliver a seamless resident technology experience, from booking a tour and applying for an apartment, to living day-to-day within our buildings and we selected the Rezpage Property Management (RPM) product from a number of alternative market technology solutions. We’re pleased with the partnership and have valued the configurability and flexibility of the Rezpage software, in building-out and integrating their BTR Booking Engine, PMS and resident-facing Staypage App for Local: Kensington”

said Matt Berg – Co CEO Local: Residential

Multi-site BTR operations require cloud-based Property Management Systems (PMSs) to enable clustering of business functions. At its core, Rezpage facilitates leasing, rental transactions and service delivery, whilst the companion App, Staypage, connects tenants directly to operations, as well as providing them a digital access key and an array of services.

“Innovative BTR management brands like Local: Residential differentiate by a range of factors including the build quality of apartments, the array of amenities, the service culture of the team and by technology-driven services. Local: Residential has quickly established its’ credentials as a premium-grade BTR platform and we are delighted to be associated. Our presence provides operators like Local: Residential, a scalable, enterprise technology solution, supported from Australia, which integrates leasing operations, transactions and tenant-facing services. With 8,500+ units live on Rezpage since mid-2022, across 18 sites in 5 countries, the client-base is expanding organically, both in BTR and PBSA market sectors. We look forward to further projects with Local: Residential in Australia “

said Greg Spicer – Chief Executive, Xn Global Systems Group Limited