The British Property Federation (BPF) and the Association for Rental Living (ARL) have joined forces to create a Build-to-Rent Taskforce.
The taskforce, which will focus on promoting and supporting the growth of the build-to-rent (BTR) and single-family rental (SFR) sectors across the UK, will be chaired by Clive Betts, MP for Sheffield South East, and comprise a cross-sector group of professionals, including representatives from the BPF and ARL, leading developers, operators, advisers and investors.
As part of its work the taskforce will consider the creation of a consumer code to protect and further enhance the resident experience.
Ian Fletcher, director of policy at the BPF, said: “Build-to-rent has made significant progress over the last decade, unlocking institutional investment to become an integral part of the housing market. However, the government’s ambitious housing targets require all parts of the housing market to be operating efficiently and effectively.
“While build-to-rent has diversified out of core cities and into single family housing, and need for rental homes is well-identified, but very few local planning authorities yet have dedicated BTR policies. The taskforce is seeking to ensure that local authorities and planning decision-makers have a thorough understanding of how the sector is evolving and the contribution it makes to community and regeneration.
“Against the backdrop of the government considering its 10-year housing strategy, there is a huge amount of investment interested in helping fund the chronic undersupply of new rental homes, which the taskforce will seek to harness.”
Brendan Geraghty, CEO of ARL, added: “The Association for Rental Living, whose membership includes investors and operators who own and manage 83% of UK build-to-rent homes, welcomes the creation of this taskforce. It is critically important to raise awareness of build-to-rent’s potential to deliver homes and attract investment, to take this message to national and local government and create an environment that unlocks the potential for much needed new homes. We must remove any factors that limit the potential scale of this delivery or undermine the confidence of investors.
“With a key focus of the taskforce being on protecting consumers, the BTR Code of Practice and Customer Charter that we are creating will be central to defining and confirming the high standards of customer treatment as well as the quality and sustainability of homes essential to meet housing need.”
