BPF Spotlight Series: Who Lives in Build-to-Rent?
💡 Who’s renting in Build-to-Rent (BTR) and why does it matter? Our latest ‘Who Lives in Build-to-Rent?’ report has the answers!
We sat down with our Assistant Director of Policy, Kate Butler, to explore what this year’s findings reveal about who calls BTR home, how it compares to the wider rental market and why it matters for the future of renting. Over to you, Kate:
❓ For those who haven’t come across it before, what is the ‘Who Lives in Build-to-Rent?’ report and why do we publish it each year?
🗣️ Our ‘Who Lives in Build-to-Rent?’ report, in partnership with BusinessLDN, The Association for Rental Living and PriceHubble, is a demographic study of residents in BTR schemes compared with the wider private rented sector (PRS). As the sector is relatively new, we share insights into who makes BTR their home for both the sector and policymakers. This fifth edition features our largest dataset yet - over 48,000 renters in almost 33,000 homes.
❓ Looking at this year’s data, what stood out to you most about who is living in BTR homes today?
🗣️ This report continues a trend we’re finding across our work - a growing similarity between those choosing BTR and the wider PRS. This is especially clear in both income and age profile. BTR is creating genuinely mixed income communities, with the most common income band between £26,000 and £50,000, accounting for 43% of residents (45% in the PRS). It’s also becoming an important tenure for all ages, sharing the PRS’s main 25-34 age bracket.
❓ The findings show that BTR residents are diverse in age, income and household type. Why is that significant for the rental sector as a whole?
🗣️ With home ownership increasingly out of reach, more people are renting - and for longer. At the same time, recent BPF, Savills and Legal & General research found the PRS is shrinking rapidly, with 290,000 homes lost since 2021. We need more homes for renters, along with higher quality and more diversity - and BTR is providing both.
Our reports show the tenure appeals to a wide range of residents across income, age, profession and household type, highlighting how it can ease pressure on the PRS by providing additionality, quality and diversity.
❓ If you could share one message from this report with policymakers, what would it be?
🗣️ BTR appeals to a diverse range of renters across many metrics, and provides new homes of high quality. To meet the need for more, better quality homes for renters, policymakers should support more BTR in their communities. We set out how in our briefings and policy papers here.
➡️ Read the report here.
