Build to rent: everything you need to know
Whether you’re moving into your first flat, sharing with friends or downsizing, renting is often the best way to start. But tales of dingy rented properties and tricky landlords are legendary. Now a more recent idea called ‘build to rent’ (BTR) or ‘professional renting’ is taking the risk out of finding a property – and providing instead a happier, more secure and homely place to live.
Build to rent has been around for a while but the concept is relatively new. The idea has been imported from America and involves firms building blocks of city centre flats, furnishing them to a high standard, adding communal areas such as lobbies with plenty of sofas and work areas, cinema rooms, free gyms, as well as 24-hour reception and security staff, and then renting them out at an all-inclusive price.
Each of these blocks contain apartments of different sizes. Studios and one-bedroom flats work well for singles or couples, while two and three bedroomed flats are specially designed for sharers to each have the same size of bedroom and ensuite facilities, or families who like the ‘village’ feel and security that these blocks bring. They’re also perfect for downsizers who want a city centre ‘lock-up-and-leave’ that’s within easy walking distance of friends, shops, theatres and cinemas …