Britain’s private rented sector is big and growing. Almost one in five English households rented privately in 2020, up from around one in ten in 2001. It is also strikingly amateur, dominated by individual landlords who own at most a handful of properties. The largest private landlord, Grainger, a listed firm, owns around 9,000 units, giving a market share below 0.2%.
But during the past decade the rental sector has started to professionalise. And the build-to-rent stock, though still a small share of the total, rose from around 1,000 in 2011 to over 62,000 in mid-2021, with 133,000 more under construction or in the planning process . . One reason for the boom, says Andrew Burrell of Capital Economics, a consultancy, is that retail and office properties are comparatively unappealing. Many investors wish to keep some capital in British real estate, but fear that shopping centres and high streets are in long-term decline, and that office rentals will be hit by the post-pandemic rise in working from home. Residential demand shifts mainly with demography and is less buffeted by the business cycle.
A decade ago most British build-to-rent projects were at the premium end of the market. They came with bells and whistles such as gyms, concierge services and even dog-washing stations. But that has begun to change. The fastest growth is now to be found in single-family homes, rather than flats, typically on the outskirts of big cities such as Birmingham, London and Manchester. Families with children are often unwilling to move, since changing schools would disrupt their children’s education.
Institutional interest in their wares is a boon for big housebuilders. Lloyds will be working with Britain’s largest, Barratt Developments. And it is well-timed, since another source of demand may soon weaken. Since 2013 the government has subsidised mortgages through “Help to Buy”, which provides equity loans that allow borrowers to buy with smaller deposits. But the scheme’s rules were tightened in April, and it is due to be phased out by 2023.
BREXIT is the only light and the hope against the evil of foreign investors taking British money out of the UK!
Putting more people into rent poverty. Stoke up those ' uplifting' foodbanks, many more will be in need.
they are building ugly apartment towers In a covid pandemic they disaster hotspots like in a cruise ship In Oz &NY there had been instances of outbreaks among residents in the tower blocks
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