UK Build to Rent Market Update – Q3 2022
Towns and cities up and down the country are experiencing pressure from the continued withdrawal of Buy-to-Let landlords (-76,000 net Buy to Let mortgage redemptions in the year to Aug-22) and the recent surge in rental demand. Nationally, there were -29% fewer listings on Rightmove in Q3 2022 vs the 2017-19 average, while annual rental growth has risen to 11.9% in August 2022.
Falling supply has been felt strongly across all major urban areas. But shortages have been particularly acute in student cities, especially those where there is high graduate retention and where the ratio of students to Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) beds is high (Fig 1). In these cities, inadequate student housing provision has greatly increased competition for rented housing in the wider market.
Compounding the issue further, full-time students grew by 8% in the latest academic year according to HESA data, following over 560,000 acceptances – the second-highest number on record …