Three more Build To Rent schemes agreed

The government has announced three new Build To Rent schemes in its programme to have 10,000 new BTR private rental homes completed by the end of 2015.

The contracts include one for £17.7 million to the Notting Hill Housing Trust to build 181 homes in the London boroughs of Newham and Southwark, one for £4.8 million to Carpenter Investments to build 101 homes in Liverpool, and one for another £4.8 million to Derwentside Homes to build 114 homes for private rent in Durham.

The three announcements are the latest from the Government's £100m Built To Rent fund which is designed to assist developers and institutions to build large scale, quality homes specifically for the private rented sector.

However, some letting agents see a potential danger for the vast majority of owners of properties in the private rental sector - these are not developers or institutions, but modest landlords, each with a relatively small number of properties to let.

With Build To Rent introducing properties specifically geared to the rental market it will widen the gap between professional landlords that do it properly and 'hobby' landlords that don't. This will be ultimately reflected in occupation rates and voids according to Zoe Rose, head of central London lettings for Strutt & Parker.

Competition will just get fiercer as the good properties fly off the shelf and the weaker ones stick and or attract a poorer tenant calibre. The private landlord needs to determine what tenant they want to attract and then ensure their property ticks everything that tenant is seeking Rose advises.