Build to rent features 'address top problems faced by renters'

Build-to-rent developments are proving attractive for many people unable to buy their own homes thanks to longer tenancy options and an absence of up-front fees, according to a major new survey.

Research by YouGov for consumer group the HomeOwners Alliance found that nearly half of the 2,195 people surveyed (48%) were attracted to the idea of build-to-rent schemes thanks to the lack of up-front fees for references and inventory, while 40% liked the idea of renting directly from a “responsible company of housing provider” as opposed to a private landlord or agent.

A third (34%) said that not having to put down a rent deposit was also a positive factor, while higher quality, resident safety and a wider choice of properties were also cited as positives in the survey.

Nearly 21,000 build-to-rent developments have been completed across the UK, the HomeOwners Alliance said, and 118,000 were underway – including the Quintain scheme around Wembley stadium (pictured above) which will eventually see 7,000 such homes built by 2026.

But while build to rent was broadening its appeal, the HomeOwners Alliance survey found that renters were less enamoured of shared ownership, with the trio of rental costs, a mortgage payment and stumping up for the lease all cited as issues.

Although it enabled people to own part of their home, the variable costs of shared ownership meant participants couldn’t plan financially.

And while Help to Buy enabled some to gain a foothold on the housing ladder the scheme was said by one in six renters to be a “bad idea”, with some suggesting the government’s finance programme “merely continues to support an overinflated property market”.

The survey suggested 4.5 million UK households were in rented accommodation, and of these 77% – 3.5 million – hoped one day to own their own home.

But of the 3.5 million who did want to own their own home, 59% didn’t expect to be able to afford one.

Paula Higgins, chief executive of the HomeOwners Alliance, said the idea of owning their own homes was a “pipe dream” for most renters.

“This shouldn’t be the case for the fifth strongest economy in the world.”

And Higgins called findings that 38% of renters lived in cold and damp properties “disgraceful”. The research also discovered that 39% experienced trouble getting their landlord to carry out essential repairs to their homes.