Housing minister Brandon Lewis has made it clear that Build To Let – the investment by institutions to build and then operate blocks of purpose-built units – is the way forward for the private rental sector.

Speaking at the RESI 15 conference in Newport, south Wales, Lewis said 15 Build To Let schemes creating 4,000 rental units had already been agreed across the UK and that more were in a pipeline, fuelled by a £1 billion fund of public money.

“The programme is generating momentum for investment, with more schemes coming forward that are independent of government funding support” he told the delegates. 

Lewis also repeated that the government was determined “to tackle the small minority of landlords that continue to offer a poor service and give the whole industry a bad name”. He added that “standards in the sector have been steadily improving, and customer satisfaction is high, but there is still room for improvement.”  

He linked this to Build To let, saying that future investment in the rental sector “will only be realised if rented homes have a reputation for good management.”