Build to rent completions up, but sector has seen slowdown in construction
New research by Inventory Base reveals that the number of build to rent completions has increased by almost 16% in the past year, however, there has been a significant dip in the number of BTR buildings currently under construction.
Inventory Base has analysed UK build to rent (BTR) construction planning data* and found that in the past year, the number of completions has increased by an impressive 15.8%.
By the end of Q1 2024, the UK had seen a cumulative total of 109,847 BTR home completions. By the end of Q1 2025, this total had risen to 127,156 completions, marking an annual increase of 15.8%.
However, over that same time period, the number of BTR units under construction fell by -14%, from 57,995 in Q1 2024 down to 49,853 in Q1 2025.
This decline suggests that developers failed to, or chose not to, keep their pipelines well stocked, so while completions increased, the number of new units being built fell.
At the same time, the number of units to have reached the Detailed Application phase of planning and development fell by-11.8%, from 22,187 in Q1 2024 to 19,558 in Q1 2025.
Despite this, there is good news. In the past year, the number of BTR units in the Detailed Permissions phase of delivery has increased by 11.8% on the year which suggests that there is an influx of BTR stock on the immediate horizon.
Furthermore, there has been a 6.6% increase in the number of units in the Long-Term Planning phase which clearly demonstrates a long-term commitment from developers to keep upping the delivery of BTR homes.
Siân Hemming-Metcalfe, Operations Director at Inventory Base, comments:
“The build to rent sector represents one of the most significant evolutions that residential property has seen in an awfully long time. Not only does the sector provide tenants with a higher quality of rental home and a greater level of security thanks to what tend to be much longer tenancy agreements than those found in the traditional private rented sector, but investors, developers, and landlords are also increasingly aware of the great returns that BTR can offer.
So while completion numbers have dipped over the past year, the continued tenant demand, as well as the UK government’s push to deliver an enormous number of new homes, we fully expect delivery to reach new heights in the coming years, especially in cities and other densely populated areas of the country.
For building owners and managers, build to rent homes present somewhat of a challenge. Tenants have high expectations as to standard of living and service they receive in these properties, which can be a lot for managers to deliver if they’re not equipped with the appropriate tools. This applies to every stage of the tenancy lifecycle, including check-in, inventories, communication, maintenance remediation, and check-out.”
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