Resi wrap: Meet the tenants driving BTR

Welcome to your weekly round-up of residential stories from EG. A study of 20,000 build-to-rent residents has revealed the tenant demographics behind the largest BTR schemes in the UK. Couples, sharers, students and professionals continue to dominate BTR lets, providing a stark contrast with the PRS market, according to research conducted by Dataloft, in partnership with the British Property Federation, the UKAA and London First. The study found 58% of tenants are couples and sharers, with single people making up 35% and families just 7%. Dataloft dug into age, employment, earnings of people in BTR versus PRS homes. Overall, it found BTR to be affordable, within the ONS definition of 30% of income dedicated to rents – the only demographic paying in excess of this was single people at 32% of income. New tenants have driven a large uptick in profit for the UK’s largest institutional landlord Grainger. The company reported a 53% surge to £152m for the year ended 30 September, following a record number of lettings pushing valuation gains. In an interview with EG, chief executive Helen Gordon celebrated the “bounce back in occupancy”, led by new in-house ops and the tech platform Connect. “That platform is built for scale, which is good because we have 8,000 homes in the pipeline and 13 schemes on site at this moment,” said Gordon. As ESG service providers seek to adapt their offers for BTR development, PfP Capital’s Alexandra Notay calls on the sector to contribute and outline their experiences and needs. In a comment, she said: “While there are some obvious challenges around energy use, not least the data collection and the inevitable survey fatigue of residents, there is so much opportunity for the “S” of social value and impact in ESG to be delivered in a meaningful way across residential schemes. Homes England will also be looking to measure social impact and ESG indicators in a new strategy for the government quango, to be unveiled next spring. The agency aims to focus on modern methods of construction and design, with direct investment and targets to unlock sustainable residential development. And finally, almost two years after the controversial approval of the £1bn Westferry Printworks scheme in the Isle of Dogs (pictured), an appeal for consent has been dismissed. Former housing secretary Robert Jenrick approved the 1,524-home scheme from media tycoon Richard Desmond in January 2020. However, the approval was later quashed because of “apparent bias” in favour of Desmond, a Tory party donor, provoking a major political row. A series of emails and texts between Desmond, Jenrick and government officials subsequently showed a rush from the department to approve the scheme ahead of a CIL rate change that would cost Desmond £40m. But that CIL increase wasn’t enough to persuade Gove’s team, which this week concluded that the benefits would not outweigh the harm to local heritage assets at the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage site, views of Tower Bridge and the Grade I listed Royal Naval College. View the magazine, download the app (iOS and Android) and read on for more of the week’s headlines: Gaw adds 55-storey skyscraper at Harbour Exchange Cortland enters Brum BTR with The Square LGIM forward funds Southampton BTR Nuveen marks Dublin BTR debut witht $500m scheme Construction loan unlocks BTR at Station Hill Consultation launched on next phase of Ebbsfleet EcoWorld and Poplar Harca submit plans for Aberfeldy expansion COMMENT Build-to-rent: what next for the Scottish market? Palace Capital returns to profit Triple Point makes £30m of new acquisitions Grainger builds PRS development portfolio Grainger appoints chief people officer Countryside picks next CFO Crest Nicholson positive on year-end figures   To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@eg.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @EGPropertyNews Image © PLP Architecture