On Wednesday the 10th I attended the “Interim BTR Forum” by Movers and Shakers the title was “Build to Rent and Housing Policy – Finding the right balance”
This is a very reduced summary of the schedule…
Keynote – ‘The Importance and Value of Good Homes and Communities’ Dr Elizabeth Rapoport – Assistant Director – Strategy, Homes England
Presentation and Q&A – ‘Who Lives in BTR’ Sandra Jones – Managing Director – Dataloft
- Who actually lives in BTR?
- What demographic shifts are taking place?
- What are typical renter demographics, age, employment?
- What are the average length of tenancies?
- How affordable is BTR – what is the typical proportion of income spent on rent?
- What attracts people to live in BTR?
Panel Session 1 – The importance of Delivering Social Value ?
- Alex Notay – Placemaking & Investment Director, PfP Capital
- Lesley Roberts – Director of BTR Operations, Godwin Developments Why is the delivery of social value important in BTR?
- Bella Peacock – Senior MD, Investment Management & Operations, Greystar
- Sowgol Zarinchang – Managing Director, Way of Life
- Rhona Brown – Head of Private Sector Housing and Home improvement, Lewisham Council
Panel Session 2 – Finding the Middle Ground – Creating Policies that Work for Everyone!
- Moderator – James Pargeter – Senior Advisor, Global Apartment Advisors
- How significant is rental inflation – what is driving it?
- How do we create policies that protect the interests of tenants but work for investors?
- Rick de Blaby – Chief Executive Officer – Get Living
- Cllr Darren Rodwell – Leader of Barking & Dagenham Council
Panel Session 3 – Creating a Shared Agenda – Accelerating the Number of Rented Homes?
- Moderator: – Simon Scott – Lead Director Living Capital Markets, JLL
- Alastair Mullens – Managing Director, Vertus, Canary Wharf Group
- Jennifer Murray – Senior Manager – Product Development, Homes England James Saunders Chief Executive – Quintain
Here are the notes I recorded and few thoughts of my own
A great conversation. The level of alignment between the long-term social aims of someone like Darren Rodwell (Leader of Barking and Dagenham Borough council) and developers was really astounding.
There was only one point in the session where the panellists appeared to move apart on more traditional left/right lines, and that was on the provision of social housing at affordable rents (although there was also a degree of shared ambition on that point)
The impression I came away with is that in the short term (relative!), BTR is very good at drawing young, relatively affluent people out of the private rented sector. If there was the political will (policy) to encourage these mechanisms (to take it way beyond 4% of rented sector in London and 2% elsewhere), to some extent the rug would be pulled from beneath the PRS. We might find that the most urgently needed homes, i.e., family homes, might be returned to owner occupation, or they became affordable to housing associations. Some of solving the housing crisis is getting the right people in the right house, and BRT has a very, very clear role to play here. Let the BTR market gobble-up its key demographic, and they will free up other (existing) forms of housing for families on more modest incomes. If you’re an affluent 18 to 30-year-old, proximity to a bar and a gym is probably a higher priority than a garden. If you are a young family on a modest income, even the smallest garden is the stuff of dreams.
BTR Housing market disrupter
In many respects, the social housing elements and affordable rent is something of a red herring. BTR is capable of delivering immense short-term social impact (and long-term social value). It could have more impact with direct planning support, and the social impact could be better supported by disrupting the economic model of buy-to-let. This could be done rapidly through tax policy and tightening up what is expected of private landlords. Owning a second home to rent out should NOT be a better retirement option than a solid pension. This is where we should all be focusing our attention if we want to solve the housing crisis: essentially, making policy that moves pension wealth to where it is most socially useful. This is 100% NOT in PRS
If BTR is allowed to satisfy its key demographic, and other areas of making policy focused on returning PRS to owner-occupier market or housing associations, the housing crisis could be tackled from both ends.
I thought Rhona Brown’s point about “fighting a fire while somebody tries to sell you smoke alarms was an excellent analogy,” but Rhona was not talking to a room full of firefighters; she was talking to a room full of builders
I was so, so encouraged to hear an unashamedly left-wing politician talking in depth and detail about how BTR can help solve the housing problem of (“a borough’s worth of homeless people in a county council of 32 boroughs”). There has to be hope that this problem can be solved.
What we seem to have forgotten in the last 13 years is that the government has to get its hands dirty with the “detail” of governing. I’ve often thought that one of the overlooked consequences of Brexit is that there will be a shitload more “stuff” that governments will be required to do, and the current incumbents of Whitehall are either reeling from the shock of this realization or rubbing their hands with glee because there will be money made from the ensuing chaos.
I think the average voter will have more time for the hard won and detailed knowledge Darren Rodwell demonstrated here over the uninformed generalizations of… well, you pick one… it’s been a few years since the Conservative party had anybody of the calibre of Michel Heseltine or Ken Clark (it used to be called caring conservative )
Jon Wild 17/5/23
