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Developer Welcomes Housing Minister’s Commitment to Private Rental Sector
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
Following last week’s news that the Housing Minister is backing investment in the private rental sector, a property developer and investment firm has spoken out in support of the pledge.
Developer Welcomes Housing Minister’s Commitment to Private Rental Sector
The Chief Executive of Quintain believes that Gavin Barwell’s commitment to the private rental sector will ensure the right type of homes are built to meet demand.
Speaking at the RESI Conference last week, Barwell said that the necessary number of new homes will “never be achieved” without significant investment in the private rental sector.
Barwell commended the recent “impressive” growth in the bespoke rental market, but insisted that this “progress must be expanded” to ensure that there is a “thriving private rented sector”.
With the amount of people living in the private rental sector continuing to grow, Barwell also noted the increasingly important role that the build to rent sector will play in providing the many homes that are so desperately needed.
The Chief Executive of Quintain, Angus Dodd, responds to the pledge: “I welcome Gavin Barwell’s comments made earlier this week at the RESI Conference and agree that build to rent can play a critically important role in delivering the high quality and affordable homes which are needed across the country to meet Britain’s housing needs.
“The sector is still immature in the UK, but the focus the industry has on the technical and design aspects of build to rent developments and the appetite of investors and lenders to finance schemes means it is growing up fast.”
The developer insists that the planning process remains the greatest barrier to the delivery of significantly more new build homes for sale and to rent in the UK, and is now calling on the Government to streamline the planning process, particularly regarding tighter rules around the consultation procedure, enabling developers to speed up the delivery of new homes.
He explains: “We believe that build to rent schemes usually contribute directly to the supply of affordable housing and that should be taken into account when S106 affordable housing provisions are agreed.
“We’d also like to see local authorities use their existing powers to give developers greater flexibility to adapt the interiors of their properties for build to rent, such as variable unit sizes and taking account of common amenities.”
