UK: The British Property Federation (BPF) and Association for Rental Living (ARL) have formed a BTR Taskforce to support the growth of the BTR and SFR sectors across the UK.
Chaired by Clive Betts, MP for Sheffield South East, and comprising a cross-sector group of professionals, including developers, operators, advisers, and investors, the Taskforce will work collaboratively to highlight the benefits of BTR and SFR.
Ian Fletcher, director of policy at the British Property Federation, 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 the Association for Rental Living, added:: “The Association for Rental Living, whose membership includes investors and operators who own and manage 83 per cent 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.”
The Taskforce will meet regularly over the next 18 months and is made up of the following:
• Clive Betts, MP for Sheffield East
• Martin Bellinger, Goodstone
• Ben Pile, Barings
• David Mawson, Place First
• Rebecca Taylor, Long Harbour
• Wyn Evans, Shared Voice
• Anna Whitton, Get Living
• Simon Scott, JLL
• Jo Davis, Avison Young
• Jason Margrave, Quintain
• Eliza Pattinson, Grainger
• David Reid, L&G
• Chris Jeffs, M&G
• Sam Smith, Dandara
• Duncan Sutherland, Sigma
• Sandra Jone, Price Hubble
• Alan Hughes, Lichfields
• Kirpal Rehinsi, Touchstone
• Victoria Manston, Hub
• Brendan Geraghty, Association for Rental Living
• James Pargeter, Global Apartment Advisors
• Steve Quartermain, former government chief planner and Town Legal
• Jennifer Murray, Homes England
• Richard Berridge, Blackbird RE
• Ian Fletcher, British Property Federation
• Theo Plowman, British Property Federation
Separately the ARL has announced that its BTR Code of Practice and Customer Charter have entered an industry consultation phase. It says more than 50 BTR organisations have already road tested the Code of Practice, universally endorsing its seven principles and rationale.
The Code of Practice aims to elevate standards across the BTR sector, establishing a social contract with consumers and building trust with all stakeholders, including the public sector. It defines a new benchmark for service, quality, sustainability, security and good governance across Build to Rent, demonstrating the standards and culture of the sector to government, policymakers and local authorities, as well as other stakeholders.
The road testing of the Code of Practice has resulted in a number of amendments to the document, all focused on making its principles even more robust. Those principles are designed to embed fairness, professionalism, quality, sustainability, community, transparency and responsibility across the Build to Rent sector.
The Code of Practice is now open for consultation to the wider rental living sector and stakeholder groups. Feedback is invited until 31st March 2025.
The consultation phase will engage government, policymakers and consumer groups for their views on how the Build to Rent Code of Practice will meet the aims it sets out to achieve, while also garnering support and advocacy for its future implementation. One key development being shared as part of the consultation is the inclusion of a Build to Rent Customer Charter.
Devised by the sector, the Customer Charter lays out the Build to Rent sector’s commitment to affording every resident respect, fairness, security and transparency. It spans rents and affordability, security, housing standards, sustainability, liveability, consumer standards and transparency.
“As the membership body for all institutionally backed, professionally managed purpose-built rental living sectors, we are delighted to support the Build to Rent Code of Practice and Customer Charter to progress to this broader consultation phase. The principles of the documents highlight the robustness and quality of the Build to Rent sector, particularly in how residents are treated, the community-creation that is at the heart of the sector, the approach to climate change and the quality of design and product that Build to Rent showcases, said Brendan Geraghty.
The aim is to introduce the Code of Practice, Customer Charter, and monitoring process with signatories in early summer 2025.