AktivBo launches international commercial benchmarking report: Lease renewal intent scores lowest of all 19 categories

Commercial tenants give their location a 92% positive rating, yet lease renewal intent scores just 62.5%, the lowest of all 19 categories. AktivBo’s Global Tenant Experience Report 2026, based on tenant satisfaction surveys in 19 countries across four continents, finds that loyalty follows how a building is run rather than where it stands. Communication stands out as a clear opportunity for improvement, with proactive updates and greater transparency offering practical ways to strengthen tenant trust.

AktivBo, a leading provider of tenant satisfaction surveys and tenant experience solutions for the real estate industry, has released the Global Tenant Experience Report 2026. The report covers offices, healthcare, logistics, retail and mixed-use premises, with all results mapped to 19 categories so owners can compare their performance across markets. It is published alongside the European Tenant Experience Report 2026 for residential real estate.

What tenants rate highest is not what keeps them

Location is the highest-rated category in the study at 92.2%, yet it is among the weakest predictors of tenants’ willingness to recommend their landlord. The categories most closely linked to loyalty are operational: waste management, landscaping, problem resolution and cleaning. Three of them – waste management, landscaping and cleaning – rank in the bottom half of all categories. Cleaning, at 65.1%, has the lowest score of any category apart from lease renewal intent.

The result is a satisfied but uncommitted tenant base. Overall satisfaction is 82.3%, but the Net Promoter Score (NPS) sits at –1, meaning detractors slightly outnumber promoters.

Trust matters

AktivBo’s experience shows that trust between landlord and tenant is built through communication, responsiveness and problem resolution. The report highlights this “trust triangle”: problem resolution receives the highest rating of the three at 77.9%, while communication scores lowest at 70.8%, leaving the most room for improvement. Because communication is also strongly linked to tenants' willingness to recommend their landlord, it is a clear priority. Better digital channels, proactive updates and transparent processes offer practical ways to strengthen trust.

The landlord makes the difference

Behind the averages, results vary widely. The NPS ranges from –61 among the weakest performers to +73 among the strongest. Communication shows the widest spread of any category, from 33% to 100%, and, at 70.8% sits below the portfolio average of 75.4%.

Tenants’ comments add a telling nuance. Service quality and staff draw the highest share of positive comments of any category (71%), while 81% of comments about indoor climate are negative. Tenants value the people who serve them, even when the building frustrates them.

“Our data shows a clear pattern: tenants who feel well informed are more willing to recommend their landlord. With communication scoring lowest of the three trust drivers at 70.8%, it stands out as the clearest priority for property companies that want satisfied tenants to stay,” says Jon Svensson, CEO of AktivBo Group.

From benchmark to action

A spread of this size is where benchmarking earns its place, because it shows what comparable portfolios have already achieved. AktivBo supports owners from measurement and target-setting through to implementation, with results tracked continuously in AktivBo Analytics.

The report is available here.

Key figures

• Location: 92.2% vs. lease renewal intent: 62.5% (lowest of 19 categories)

• Link to loyalty (correlation with NPS): waste management 0.88, location 0.42

• Overall satisfaction: 82.3%, Net Promoter Score: –1

• NPS range across performers: from –61 to +73

• Communication: 70.8%, spread from 33% to 100%

• 1,977 tenant responses · 19 countries · 4 continents · 34% response rate · 4,680 comments

About the report: Results show the share of positive answers on a four-point scale, averaged across projects, with each project weighted equally. Links to loyalty are measured as the correlation with NPS.

Media Contact:

Susanne Wahlström
Chief Marketing Officer
AktivBo Group
+46 70 14 044 76
press@aktivbo.se
 

About AktivBo

AktivBo is a knowledge and platform-based company that empowers real estate companies to improve customer satisfaction and profitability through data-driven insights. AktivBo’s customer surveys provide a solid foundation for analyzing and managing real estate operations. Today, more than 500 real estate companies across more than 20 countries use AktivBo’s solutions to continuously measure, benchmark, and enhance their performance. AktivBo serves clients in markets including the US, Canada, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the UK.