Majority of Millennial Renters Feel Unsafe at Home
An Allegion survey indicates most millennials have long-term plans to live in an apartment building, and that safety and security are top priorities.
CARMEL, Ind. — Allegion U.S., a leading provider of security products and solutions, released the results of a national survey that provides insight into millennials’ preferences for multifamily living and how they prioritize safety and security.
The survey, “Home Safe Home: How Millennial Preferences Are Redefining Multifamily Living,” highlights millennials’ habits, behaviors and tendencies when it comes to their living situation and expectations for the future, and evaluates their sense of security at home.
The survey indicated that almost 3 in 4 millennials have long-term plans to live in an apartment building, and that safety and security are top priorities. However, only 26% feel secure in their current dwellings, and less than 10% have electronic door locks.
More than 1 in 2 (52%) would prefer to access their home using tech-based entry methods including a smartphone, pin code, biometric solution, key fob or card credential.
“Property managers and developers can benefit from looking to new, innovative means of access control to keep pace with tech-savvy millennials,” says Robert Gaulden, director of multifamily channel strategy at Allegion U.S. “The survey reinforces the value of mobile-enabled systems — not only do they bring building residents, service staff and guests convenient all-in-one mobile access control, but they can also simplify and streamline scheduling maintenance requests, managing packages, visitor management and more.”
Multifamily Matters
When looking at millennials’ current and future planned living accommodations, respondents indicated that multifamily living will be a mainstay:
- 72% of millennials currently live in an apartment building.
- 75% plan to stay in their current residence six months or longer.
Sense of Safety
Most millennials do not feel secure in their home nor have the technology installed that they need to feel safe, according to the survey. As many Americans respect stay-at-home orders and/or opt to shelter in place during these unprecedented times, these two data points are especially relevant:
- 74% of millennials don’t feel secure in their home.
- Few have connected electronic door locks (9%).
Delivery Dilemmas
The use of delivery services is significant amongst millennials, but those surveyed indicated they are not immune to package thieves:
- 57% of millennials currently use delivery services like Amazon (mostly for retail and food deliveries).
- Most receive an average of 1-2 packages per week (63%).
- 39% have had packages stolen from their front door sometime in the past.
Seamless Security
The on-demand millennial generation values seamless convenience and integrated solutions for home security:
- A residential portal app to pay rent, submit maintenance requests, etc. is of the greatest interest for a future residence when it comes to amenities (56%).
- 3 in 5 respondents would be more likely to live in a place that offered mobile access control.
- 52% prefer to access their home using alternative entry methods (pin code, smartphone, biometric, key fob or card credential).
- 58% are comfortable and have given out 1-2 keys or access codes to family or friends.
Property managers, security integrators and developers can help increase multifamily security by incorporating electronic access control. Beyond secure access, these solutions also allow for streamlined visitor management, package delivery and concierge services.
To view an image gallery of results from the Allegion survey, go here.
(Data Source: Schlage Lock Co. Survey of 1,002 adults (aged 23-39), randomized blind survey, November 2019.)
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