Allegion U.S., a provider of security products and solutions, revealed 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 three-quarters of Millennials have long-term plans to live in an apartment building, and that safety and security are top priorities. However, only 26 percent feel secure in their current dwellings, and very few (less than 10 percent) have electronic door locks. Fifty-two percent would prefer to access their home using tech-based entry methods such as 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,” said 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.”

Main findings of the survey include:

Multifamily Matters — When looking at Millennials’ current and future planned living accommodations, respondents indicated that multifamily living will be a mainstay:

• 72 percent of Millennials currently live in an apartment building.
• 75 percent plan to stay in their current residence for six months or longer.

Sense of Safety — The majority of Millennials do not feel secure in their home, and do not have the technology installed that could help them 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 percent of Millennials don’t feel secure in their home.
• Few have connected electronic door locks (9 percent).  

Delivery Dilemmas — The use of delivery services is significant amongst Millennials, but those surveyed indicated they are not immune to package thieves:

• 57 percent 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 percent).
• 39 percent 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 percent).
• 3 in 5 respondents would be more likely to live in a place that offered mobile access control.
• 52 percent prefer to access their home using alternative entry methods (pin code, smartphone, biometric, key fob or card credential).
• 58 percent have given out 1-2 keys or access codes to family or friends. 

Allegion works with property managers and integrators to provide secure, flexible multifamily offerings that attract today’s Millennial renters. For more information, visit http://multifamily.allegion.com.