"The BTR sector has grown impressively, with more than 130,000 completed homes and another 160,000 in the pipeline. But pipeline is not delivery. Unless the government seizes the opportunity now, it risks both missing its housing target and squandering the global investment that wants to fund UK homes."
- Andy Jones - LRG
The Labour Party Conference is taking place at an important time for the property sector in terms of the opportunities for change, and no more so than for BTR.
And from the government’s point of view, the target of 1.5 million new homes this Parliament simply cannot be achieved without BTR.
Yet BTR remains poorly understood. Too often portrayed as shiny towers with “premium rents”, it is miscast as exclusive rather than mainstream. In reality, BTR delivers well-managed, professionally run homes across geographies and income levels – from single-family housing (SFH) in suburban areas to urban multifamily schemes. It can bridge the gap between unaffordable homeownership and ineligible affordable housing, providing secure and quality homes for those in the “missing middle”.
With the Labour Party Conference starting on Sunday, the challenge is not convincing institutional investors; capital is ready and waiting, but persuading policymakers to make the sector viable. What follows is a wishlist: five steps the government could take to support BTR, accelerate delivery, and, in doing so, move its housing target from aspiration to reality.
Joined-up thinking
Despite its potential, BTR is still treated as an adjunct to homes for sale or affordable housing. Few local authorities have explicit strategies for BTR, and national policy remains fragmented. The Build to Rent Taskforce is already working to improve the sector’s narrative. But the government must also play its part.
The solution is a clear policy statement placing BTR at the heart of the 1.5 million homes mission. Local authorities should be supported – and required – to set out BTR strategies in their local plans. Joined-up thinking across national, regional and local levels would demonstrate recognition of BTR’s unique ability to deliver homes at pace, and help counter outdated perceptions about renting.
Thinking long term
Unusually for a Labour government, short-term caution about overspending has become the default response to fiscal constraint. Yet housing is not a sunk cost: as the OBR has stated previously, it has the potential to kick-start the entire economy. And it is an investment in productivity, social mobility and community resilience. BTR, with its placemaking potential and long-term stewardship, is especially well placed to deliver these outcomes.
With the Renters’ Rights Bill reshaping the market, the need for professionally managed and at-scale rental housing will only grow. The government has envisaged a more ‘professional’ rental sector, and BTR can deliver this. But for this to be achieved, the government must support the BTR sector with long-term incentives – from land release and infrastructure funding to fiscal certainty, viability has to work and remain profitable – rather than leaving demand unmet.
Certainty in planning
Planning is where the pipeline is faltering most severely. Multi-family BTR submissions have collapsed by more than 75% since their peak, with co-living also in steep decline. Without urgent change, the downward trend will translate into a dramatic, continued fall in new starts and product availability to a desperate end user, extending only further into 2027 and beyond
Three reforms would help. First, reward the pace of delivery on large sites through partnership models and master-planned public land. Second, integrate BTR earlier in schemes so that it can unlock regeneration. Third, introduce last-resort penalties where schemes fall materially behind schedule. With most BTR projects taking more than 3.5 years from concept to occupation, the government’s 1.5 million homes target is otherwise unachievable.
Enabling faster build-out
Even where planning is secured, starts have plummeted. The culprits are familiar: high build costs, finance constraints, regulatory uncertainty and ever-increasing forms of development taxation. The Building Safety Act, while laudable in intent, has introduced new delays, compliance costs and liability structures that make many high-rise schemes unviable. Developers report being stuck for more than a year in the gateway process, with buildings they cannot occupy despite being complete.
Meanwhile, an expectation that land value can endlessly fund infrastructure and levies has pushed many schemes past the tipping point of viability. This “death by a thousand cuts” is forcing investors to look elsewhere. Unless the government acts to rebalance the costs and streamline the gateway system, the pipeline of 160,000 BTR homes will remain on paper rather than on site.
Tax stability and advance certainty
Finally, fiscal policy is the most immediate lever. The market is paralysed not by regulation itself, but by regulatory uncertainty. Investors are deterred less by the presence of rules than by their unpredictability and constant layering.
Budgets must provide multi-year certainty, not annual surprises. An expanded clearance process should cover VAT and SDLT alongside corporation tax. HMRC’s VAT guidance review should be progressed, clarifying rules on tenant modifications, “golden brick” recovery and maintenance costs. SDLT should reflect the aggregation and long-term ownership typical of BTR. And exemptions from council tax and business rates during lease-up would ease early cashflow pressures.
This is not about giveaways but about unlocking nearly 4,000 consented homes currently stalled. International investors have made clear that while they hold billions in capital ready to deploy, the UK has become too uncertain compared to Europe, where environments are more regulated and more stable.
Conclusion
The BTR sector has grown impressively, with more than 130,000 completed homes and another 160,000 in the pipeline. But pipeline is not delivery. Unless the government seizes the opportunity now, it risks both missing its housing target and squandering the global investment that wants to fund UK homes.
Ultimately, this can deliver better rental options for millions, faster delivery of new homes, stronger local economies and long-term stewardship of communities. The five steps outlined here – joined-up strategy, long-term vision, planning certainty, faster build-out and fiscal stability – are achievable, pragmatic and urgent.
Labour has the chance at its Conference to demonstrate that its housing target is not just rhetoric but a national mission. BTR can help deliver it, but only if the government clears the path.
