30% Rise In Build to Rent Activity
The build-to-rent (BTR) sector has seen a considerable rise in activity over the past 12 months with a number of new homes complete, under construction and in planning throughout the UK.
A new report from the British Property Federation (BPF) has detailed the growth seen in the BTR sector, showing a 30% increase in homes complete, under construction and in planning.
The emerging sub-market of professionally managed homes built specifically for renters has become increasingly popular with developers and investors in recent years. This trend looks set to continue as the total number of BTR homes in the UK rose from 90,761 to 117,893 over the last 12 months.
When taking a closer look at the details of the report, it was revealed that the number of completed BTR homes has jumped from 14,371 to 20,863, a huge 45% increase year-on-year.
Looking at homes that are still under construction, the percentage of growth is slightly higher at 47% and just over 17,500 homes greenlit for development by local authorities.
Unsurprisingly, the largest number of BTR homes are located in London, with over half of the UK's total (60,530) can be found in the capital.
The North West region also has a large share of BTR homes (29,600), with the next most popular region for homes belonging to the sub-market in the South East (7,101).
Director of Real Estate Policy at BPF – Ian Fletcher – spoke on the surge in activity seen within the sector and what it could mean for renters in the UK. He said “The build-to-rent sector is evolving quickly, with significant delivery in the regions and more houses, rather than just apartments, coming forward.
“Policy is also adapting, as to date the sector has grown without a planning blueprint. This is now changing. With the draft revised National Planning Policy Framework, local authorities will now have to specifically identify how many new rental homes their respective areas need. This has never before been enshrined in UK planning policy.
“Clearly, there are exemplar local authorities across the UK leading the charge, giving build-to-rent a chance to expand in the regions and demonstrate that it can cater for a wider range of people. The sector, however, has significant potential to deliver more professionally-managed homes for all renters seeking higher quality service and facilities.”
