As Landlords Exit, Btr Will 'Thrive'

With growing numbers of individual buy to let landlords exiting the market, build to rent (BTR) is predicted to grow dramatically in the UK.

That's the verdict from property management firm Apropos who say that the rise in build to rent numbers over the past year, along with the numbers currently under construction, means the sector will play a leading role in offering homes for rent.

They say that this will become increasingly important with the declining number of landlords operating in the private rental sector.

According to figures from real estate firm CBRE, there's been a 20% year-on-year increase in the amount that institutional investors are placing into the country's build to rent sector.

'Early days for the build to rent market'

Apropos’ joint managing director, David Alexander, said: "It's still early days for the build to rent market but it's clear major institutional investors are attracted to it.

"The investors see the benefit and the government understands it needs to deliver large numbers of rental homes in a short time period to meet future demand caused by a growing population and landlords exiting the sector."

According to the British Property Federation, there are currently 143,000 build to rent units that have either been completed or are being planned. Of those, 32,223, have been completed and another 36,410 are under construction. Another 74,000 have planning permission.

However, despite the surge in activity, the build to rent sector currently makes up less than 1% of the UK's private rental housing stock.

Voids rise across the UK

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that the UK saw a rise in void periods in September, just as the summer boom ended.

The figures from Goodlord highlight that in September, void periods rose in seven of the eight regions they monitor.

Only landlords in London saw their voids falling - they dropped to 11 days from 14 days previously.

Landlords in the West Midlands saw their void periods double on the previous month, moving to 34 days in September, while the shortest voids are being seen in the North East with just 10 days to fill a rental property.

Goodlord's chief executive, Tom Mundy, said: "The summer trend saw very low void periods and a rise in average rents. September's figures show that the summer bump for landlords and agents might be coming to an end with void periods increasing across nearly all of the regions which takes us back to the levels recorded in the first quarter of this year."