Everything you need to know about build to rent in London: Second edition

This is a new and updated guide to the emerging BTR market in London, produced in conjunction with London First and Turley.

  • By ian.mitchell

Since September 2017, when this publication was first released, there have been significant changes to build to rent public policy, and the sector has continued to grow both in London and the rest of the country. This report has been updated to take account of these changes, providing a refreshed overview of the build to rent sector in London – high-quality, professionally
managed, purpose-built homes for private rent. It outlines:

• the reasons why build to rent has grown in importance, its market context, and recent developments in public policy;
• the benefits that build to rent brings to local areas illustrated by case studies; and
• key planning and housing considerations for build to rent that boroughs will need to consider.

London must significantly increase its rate of housebuilding if it is to adequately house its growing population. Failure to do so is not just a social issue: it poses a threat to the capital’s economic competitiveness. Businesses in London are increasingly concerned that a growing number of talented people across many levels of income will be driven away, or put off London in the first place, because the city cannot build the homes it needs, and housing costs continue to rise.

There are a complicated set of factors which make increasing housing supply in London challenging. However, it’s clear that more support from all levels of government is needed to deliver a greater diversity of the types of homes that are built in London, as diversity will help to increase overall supply. As will be highlighted, build to rent has an important role to play in addressing London’s housing problems by, among other things:

• increasing the overall supply and accelerating the construction of new homes;
• providing greater choice for Londoners in the rental market;
• delivering a better quality of rental product that is professionally managed; and
• allowing boroughs the opportunity to generate a long-term income stream to invest in local priorities.