THE provisions of a new housing bill in Scotland can help the country deliver as many as 15,000 additional build to rent (BTR) properties over the next few years, Rettie has said.
In what is seen as a major boost for BTR in Scotland, the recently passed Housing (Scotland) Bill has exempted BTR, mid market rent (MMR), and purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) developments from rent controls – removing a previous barrier and potentially unlocking more institutional investment into the sector.
Dr John Boyle, Rettie’s director of strategy and research, said, “Commendably, the Scottish Government listened to industry players like ourselves on the provisions of the bill, and has worked closely with the sector to establish the Housing Investment Taskforce.
“The great hope now is that this helps to breathe life back into BTR in Scotland, which needs all the support it can get due to ongoing and challenging market conditions due to commercial viability issues.”
Glasgow’s BTR pipeline is almost double that of Edinburgh, with Scotland’s largest city having 8,879 homes in pre-planning or planning and Scotland’s capital having 4,986 homes in the pipeline.
Currently, both cities have a similar number of BTR homes operational, with Glasgow at 2,326 and Edinburgh at 2,204. At the same time, Scottish cities remain considerably behind many comparable UK cities including Liverpool, Manchester, and Leeds when it comes to BTR delivery.
John Boyle continued, “While single family housing BTR homes, which are typically houses in suburban areas, have significantly increased in the UK, Scotland has lagged behind and only has a handful of these schemes. Nevertheless, there is investor demand for such schemes here and it is hoped the more acceptable regulatory environment in Scotland can now accelerate BTR delivery.
“Glasgow’s ability to attract more potential BTR units is a reflection of the availability of more centrally located land and having specific policies around the likes of Co-living.”
Some of the recent Scottish BTR milestones include:
- In Glasgow, the Solasta 324-unit development overlooking the River Clyde was sold to US-based Hines Property Partners for £140 million.
- In Aberdeen, Dandara’s Forbes Place development, which was the first operational BTR development in Scotland and consisting of 292 units, was purchased this month for £30 million by Germany-based ECE Living Fund.
- In Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh Council is set to deliver a mix of MMR, social rent,and open market rent tenure homes through its Edinburgh Living operator at Forth Port’s Western Harbour site in Leith.
