ByMark Wilding and Richard Hook

Build-to-Rent sector homes in on 100,000 milestone

There are now close to 100,000 build-to-rent homes either completed, under construction or submitted for planning permission across the UK.

According to research from the British Property Federation (BPF), there are 95,918 built-to-rent homes at various stages of the construction process, an increase of 37.4% compared to the 68,824 recorded in the first three months of the year.

The figures, based on quarterly research conducted by Savills, suggest the pipeline of professionally managed rented homes in the UK is rapidly increasing.

More than half of all units are concentrated in London, where there are 54,978 homes completed, under construction or in planning.

However, the rate of growth in the capital appears to be outstripped by the regions, where 12,316 build-to-rent units are under construction compared to 11,696 in London.

Large build-to-rent developments also appear to be increasingly favoured by developers, with 34 schemes in the pipeline comprising more than 500 units, compared to 24 in the first quarter of the year.

Ian Fletcher, director of real estate policy at the BPF, said: “Correcting the supply-demand imbalance in the UK is fundamental to addressing the housing crisis, and we have demonstrated that build-to-rent has much to offer.

“We are pleased by the Mayor of London’s continued support of the sector and his recognition of its capacity to deliver much-needed homes.

“We look forward to the government’s formal response to the national housing white paper, which formally recognised build-to-rent in the National Planning Policy Framework.

“We need all housing tenures to be fully supported by the right policy framework if we are going to reverse the damage caused by years of undersupply.”