Press Releases

The British Property Federation (“BPF”) has published a new residential manifesto, ‘Building for Generations’ calling on the next Government to take radical action to unlock private capital to address the acute undersupply of affordable homes, set a clear roadmap for delivering 30,000 Build-to-Rent homes per year and remove the current barriers to delivering student accommodation and older peoples’ housing.

Transforming affordable housing delivery

It is estimated that 3.7m people are affected by overcrowding and a further 1.2m are on council waiting lists. According to the BPF, with housing associations reaching borrowing limits at least £10bn of institutional capital is required to address an acute shortfall in affordable housing.

In order to support affordable housing delivery the BPF is calling on Government to:

• Increase subsidy levels by £9bn - £14bn, through grants and public sector-supported models. Allied with £10bn of equity funding, this will help deliver 145,000 homes per year.
• Introduce longer term rent settlements to support security of income and viability
• Review treatment of For Profit Registered Providers to level the playing field and enable closer collaboration between institutional investors and housing associations

Easing the pressure on the rental market with a bold target of 30,000 BtR units a year

There are now over 100,000 completed BTR homes – and a further 160,000 in the pipeline – but the UK still lags some way behind the US, Australia and other countries in delivering professionally managed homes at scale and at a range of price points.

To ease the pressure on the rental market and support overall housing supply, the BPF is calling on the next Government to set a bold target of 30,000 new BTR homes a year, enabled by interventions such as:

• A stamp duty exemption for new developments of more than 100 units to support valuations, de-risk development and create more liquidity in the market
• A requirement for local authorities to assess the need for professionally rented homes as part of Local Plans
• Extension of the PRS Housing Guarantee Scheme, allowing BTR developers to raise debt with a Government guarantee to reduce borrowing rates and support viability throughout market and economic cycles

Delivering the high-quality accommodation needed to support the UK’s world-class education system

Purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) houses 710,000 students and post-graduate researchers and is favoured by international students that are vital to the financial health of the higher education sector. To ensure the UK is delivering the accommodation needed to support universities the BPF is calling for:

• Introduction of a needs assessments for student accommodation – similar to housing need evaluations – so local authorities must consider it as part of Local Plans
• Exempt affordable student accommodation from CIL payments, in line with affordable housing, to support delivery at lower price points
• Mandatory requirement that universities plan for student accommodation as part of their future growth and funding plans

Meeting the needs of an aging population

There are currently 12.9m over-65s in the UK and only 602,633 senior housing units. An undersupply of purpose-built housing for older people creates pressure on wider housing supply by restricting down-sizing and ultimately increases the burden on the social care system.

The BPF forecasts there is £6.5bn private capital targeting the sector that could support the delivery of 50,000 units per year. To realise this potential the next Government should:

• Create a new planning use class for Seniors’ Housing to ensure consistency and reduce uncertainty for investors
• Drive transparency by introducing clear consumer and operator guidelines
• Create a national strategy for housing an aging population, which encompasses housing, social care and healthcare needs

Ian Fletcher, Policy Director, British Property Federation said:

“The only way to tackle the housing emergency is to build more homes of all types and by delivering more affordable housing, market rental homes, student accommodation and older peoples’ housing we can relieve the pressure on overall housing supply. However, as it stands development across these sectors is restricted to 35,000 homes a year, when there is a need for at least 100,000. 

“Pension funds and other  sources of institutional capital are attracted to these sectors as they offer secure long-term income but the next Government must do more to give them the confidence to invest. Currently the planning system at both a national and local level does not provide enough clarity or support for a wide range of tenure-types, and there are a number of funding mechanisms Government can introduce that will help de-risk schemes and support delivery when economic and market conditions are more challenging.”

This is the third of five mini-manifestos on specific areas that the BPF is publishing ahead of the election, alongside its overarching manifesto, 'Building our Future' launched in January.