AktivBo, a leading provider of tenant satisfaction solutions in the real estate industry, has published the "Global Tenant Experience Report 2026" for commercial properties. This comprehensive study covers sectors such as office, healthcare, logistics, retail, and mixed-use properties. The investigation categorises all results into 19 categories, enabling owners to make a detailed cross-market performance comparison. In parallel, the "European Tenant Experience Report 2026" for residential properties was published.
The analysis reveals that high general satisfaction does not necessarily lead to tenant loyalty. Although the location achieved the highest rating in the study at 92.2%, it is one of the weakest indicators of tenants' willingness to recommend. Operational issues are primarily crucial for tenant loyalty. These include waste management, external area maintenance, incident reporting, and cleaning. Three of these areas – waste management, external area maintenance, and cleaning – are in the lower range of the evaluated categories. Cleaning only achieved 65.1% satisfaction; only the willingness to renew leases was rated worse. Overall tenant satisfaction stands at 82.3%, but the Net Promoter Score (NPS) is merely –1, indicating that more tenants would probably not recommend their landlord than actively would.
Building Trust as a Priority
AktivBo's analyses identify communication, responsiveness, and problem-solving as the core factors that establish trust between landlord and tenant. This "trust triangle" is a central component of the report. Problem-solving received the best rating among these three factors at 77.9%. Communication, however, scored the weakest at 70.8%, pointing to significant potential for improvement in this area. As communication correlates closely with tenants' willingness to recommend, it is given clear priority. Practical measures to strengthen trust include improved digital channels, proactive information provision, and transparent processes.
The study also highlights that behind the average values, significant differences exist between individual landlords. The NPS varies widely, from -61 for the laggards to +73 for the top performers. Communication, in particular, shows the greatest variability of all categories with a range from 33% to 100% and an average of 70.8%, which is below the portfolio average of 75.4%. Free text responses from tenants provide additional insights: service quality and staff receive the highest proportion of positive comments at 71%, while 81% of free text responses regarding indoor climate are negative. This underscores that tenants value interaction with staff, even when expressing dissatisfaction with aspects of the building.
- —Communication: Weakest factor in the 'trust triangle' (70.8%)
- —Problem-solving: Best factor in the 'trust triangle' (77.9%)
- —Location: Highest satisfaction (92.2%), but low relevance for recommendation
- —Cleaning: Below-average satisfaction (65.1%)
Jon Svensson, CEO of AktivBo, emphasises the significance of these results: "Our data shows a clear pattern: tenants who feel well-informed are more likely to recommend their landlord. Communication, at 70.8%, is the weakest of the three trust drivers. For real estate companies looking to retain satisfied tenants long-term, it is therefore the clearest priority." Given the wide range of results, benchmarking serves as a valuable tool to highlight best practices from comparable portfolios. AktivBo supports owners from measurement to target setting and implementation, with results continuously tracked in "AktivBo Analytics".
