The Association for Rental Living (ARL), the recognised membership body for the UK Build to Rent sector, has sent an open letter to the government, urging it to take immediate action to support the UK BtR sector and address the increasing issue of viability that is deterring investment in much-needed new rental homes.
The letter was sent following the recent announcement of the withdrawal of the John Lewis Partnership from its BtR property business which ARL CEO Brendan Geraghty said was “deeply disappointing news and a real loss for consumers”.
John Lewis scraps Build-to-Rent plans
The letter was sent to the secretary of state for housing, Steve Reed MP, chancellor of the exchequer, Rachel Reeves MP, minister of state for housing and planning, Matthew Pennycook MP, parliamentary under-secretary of state at the MHCLG, Baroness Taylor of Stevenage and chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, Florence Eshalomi MP.
In the letter, the ARL calls on the government to “take sharp notice” of John Lewis Partnership’s announcement as it presents a real-world example of the compounding set of regulatory and market dynamics that have decimated the viability of investment in building much-needed additional new rental homes across the UK.
The ARL stresses that without intervention, the consequences are clear – slower housing delivery, reduced rental supply, increased affordability pressure and greater reliance on short-term or lower-quality stock, calling on the government to now restore confidence and recalibrate viability for institutional investors by:
- Providing long-term policy stability and avoiding further cumulative regulatory layering without economic assessment.
- Designing a planning system that supports delivery, with clarity and speed, including classifying housing as critical infrastructure, explicitly recognising BtR within planning policy, mandating local plans to include specific policies on BtR, and introducing mandatory targets for purpose-built rental homes within local authority housing targets.
- Devising a proportionate regulatory and tax framework that recognises the economics of large-scale rental with the reinstatement of Multiple Dwellings Relief for Stamp Duty Land Tax and the rationalisation of selective licensing regimes.
The ARL recognises these policy changes may take time but calls on the government to publicly recognise and state support for institutional investment in UK BtR now, and acknowledge the viability challenges being faced in order to give investors greater confidence that the government is committed to making the UK a good place to invest.
