Insights into the rental sector reveals that the proportion of new-build completions coming via the Build to Rent sector has grown in the last year, accounting for over 7% of all new homes reaching the market. The insight comes from rental platform – Rentd – who analysed the total new-build completions over the last year, what level of these completions are attributed to the rapidly growing Build to Rent sector, and how this has changed year on year.
Last year, 7,123 new rental homes came via the Build to Rent sector – a 25% uplift on the volume of completions in 2020. The growth is 7% higher than the increase seen in total new-build completions during the same period. As a result, Build to Rent completions accounted for 7.2% of all new-build homes delivered last year, up from 6.8% the previous year.
The insights also reveal that the sector’s impact has been much greater in London. The 7,123 Build to Rent completions in the capital accounted for 48% of the national total, compared to the 21,000 new homes delivered, which accounts for 10% of the UK total.
The results show that Build to Rent completions accounted for 34% of all new-build delivery across London in 2021, with this market share increasing from 29.2% the year before.
Elsewhere in the UK, the Build to Rent market share increased from 4.1% to 4.2% between 2020 and 2021.
“The new-build sector has evolved to deliver more than just bricks and mortar, with the lifestyle offering provided by new-build developments becoming as pivotal to their appeal as the property itself.
“So it’s hardly surprising that this focus on better quality living to suit the modern resident has transferred so well to the rental sector and, in fact, it’s more surprising that it’s taken so long to happen.
“Despite its relative infancy, the Build to Rent sector has grown rapidly and there’s no doubt it will continue to do so over the coming years, as it becomes a greater area of focus for the nation’s housebuilders.
“Of course, we remain a nation of aspirational homebuyers and so while more of us are choosing to rent until later in life, we’re unlikely to see Build to Rent eradicate this appetite to own our own homes entirely. But the sector does provide a fantastic alternative for the smaller proportion of the population who prefer the flexibility and easier freedom of movement that renting can provide.”
Ahmed Gamal, Founder and CEO, Rentd
