New research suggests that the UK is on the brink of a build-to-rent explosion: large-scale and commercially developed, owned and operated.
The report Housing Futures: Urban Renters was created by Strutt & Parker, Stanhope and Network Homes and takes a closer look at the in Britain emerging build-to-rent sector as similar developments are happening in other countries like Hong Kong, Germany, Japan, Sweden and the US.
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For the research, the team analysed the profile of tenant demand and the main tenant groups that operate within the rental market.
“We’re not talking about Generation Rent – we’re now talking about Every Generation Rent. The UK private rental market is going through a period of sustained growth, doubling in size to 5.4 million from 2001 to 2014, a trend which only looks set to continue” according to Stephanie McMahon, head of research at Strutt & Parker.
“Some 48 per cent of those who responded to our Urban Renters survey had been renting the same property for at least the last two years, with 24 per cent of tenants anticipating renting as a family in the future” she says.
McMahon explained that an expanding group of renters is making the active decision to live in rental accommodation over owning their own home.
“While the aspiration to own is still a key motivation for the majority of households, a preference for renting is starting to surface, with nine per cent of respondents in Greater London preferring to rent [over owning]. We seem to be on the brink of becoming a rental nation.”
Over the last decade, the private rented sector has grown by 82%, making it past the social rented sector in 2012/13 to become the second largest tenure.
