MORNING NEWS: UK BTR looks to its next milestones

Good morning. Here’s your daily round-up of the latest news and views from EG and a collection of real estate-relevant headlines from the national papers. The UK’s build-to-rent sector has arguably matured, but there could still be growing pains ahead as international and domestic investors alike get to grips with a changing marketplace. In late June, a group of industry leaders gathered for an EG roundtable hosted at Savills’ offices in central London to share their thoughts on lessons learned and next steps for the operational BTR sector. Head here for a recap of the discussion, which tackled the state of the market in the first half of the year, the market’s evolution as standing assets start to trade, the correlation between the UK purpose-built student accommodation sector and BTR, and first-generation stock versus second. “It’s taken 10 to 12 years to get to the 100,000-home milestone,” said Jacqui Daly, Savills’ director of investment research and strategy. “I would argue that you will get 200,000 in half the time that it’s taken to get to 100,000. And then if it does follow the PBSA [market], you’ll get to 400,000 again at a much quicker pace. The risk around all of that is in the political and regulation. But that’s how the sector should start to grow given the groundwork is in place.” The London Legacy Development Corporation is urging planning authorities, developers and designers to improve women and girls’ safety and access to public spaces through gender-informed planning and design. It will launch a new handbook this evening calling on the built environment sector “to assume its share of responsibility and help change the status quo”. The LLDC said that for “too long, cities have been designed by and for men, with a lack of consideration or understanding of the lived experiences of women and girls”. This approach has embedded gender biases into every aspect of city design, it added. In this morning’s listed real estate news, LondonMetric Property has sold five assets for a combined £26.7m, offloading non-core assets from its acquisitions of CT Property Trust and A&J Mucklow, while flex office operator Workspace says its second-quarter results have shown resilient demand in what was typically a quieter period. All of the news from EG, plus a selection of headlines from the nationals:BTR: from groundwork to growthLLDC urges developers to drive gender bias out of designHIG Capital eyes UK deals after $1.4bn fund closeMcLaren submits plans for Watford BTRResilient demand in quiet period boosts WorkspaceLondonMetric sells £27m of shops and officesSirius taps market for £150m to spend on acquisitionsIs it all change for real estate as Labour recognises the importance of skin in the game?AO finds a home at Bruntwood SciTech’s 111 PiccadillyStreetwear brand signs for Manchester’s New Cathedral StreetBTR investment in H1 2024 rises by 30%Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle gets thumbs upDelancey’s £400m King’s Cross lab project up for approvalLiverpool launches public consultation on £1bn housing strategyCriterion gets green light for car showroom-to hotel schemeArch Company launches Bethnal Green industrial spacePioneer picks Carter Jonas as agent for Hexagon TowerInvestment in Scottish CRE drops by a fifth in H1Plans submitted for £77m Birmingham logistics developmentMiller hires from Gallagher to build out real estate offeringWeBuild gets funding for Chertsey office-to-resi schemeAviva to fund 700-bed student village at Staffordshire UniversityVastint lodges proposals for final phase of Leeds’ Aire ParkGLP signs tenant for Magna Park CorbyCrest Nicholson board ‘minded to approve’ upped Bellway offerMarchmont and NW1 secure £29m loan for open-storage jvXpercity acquires Greater Manchester office-to-resi schemeDevelopers reveal updated £250m masterplan for Stockport8Canmoor and Tristan get nod for phase two of Accelerator Park Penthouse sells for $135m in New York’s priciest deal since 2022 (£)Top London property prices fall on school fee VAT and non-doms reform (£)UK tycoon in line to buy The Body Shop out of administration (£)Estate agents more optimistic on outlook for the housing market (£)Labour refuses to back four-day week in blow to campaigners (£)Where Rachel Reeves is about to give Nimbys the biggest shock (£)