MIPIM 2016: The UK build-to-rent market can learn lessons from the US but needs to find its own way and respond to the demands of the UK consumer, according to experts from the sector.
The position of the UK market was being discussed at a joint CBRE and Estates Gazette seminar, Realising the UK ambition to create an institutional asset class in the PRS sector.
Mark Linton, president of Linton Strategies and former advisor the Obama administration, said there are lessons – for instance that the UK should be cautious around designing buildings that do not fit different demographics, but that the two markets are very different.
“I don’t think it’s a ‘how far behind’, they’re almost apples and oranges,” he said.
Michaela Hancock, development director at Greystar, which has over 400,000 homes under management in the US, said it was important to study the target market, the wants versus the needs, and provide that at an affordable level.
She said Greystar had rapidly ramped up UK activities, from one employee three years ago to 60 today.
“We recognise we are not just taking the US model without any consideration to the cultural shift here. We are bringing in teams that are local, but also with US resource,” she said.
David Cowans of Places for People said responding to the needs of the market was essential.
Places for People manages 20,000 homes, most not designed for the build-for-rent market, and the company has changed with the market.
“If all you do is one thing when consumer norms are shifting, that is not a great business to be in,” he said.
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