The Scottish Property Federation (SPF) released a report at the end of Q1 2018 that shows that for every build-to-rent (BTR) home in Scotland, North West England has almost 10. Scotland currently has 3,365 BTR homes completed, under construction or in planning, while the North West has 29,600, the South East (excluding London) has 7,701, the West Midlands has 6,378 and Yorkshire and The Humber has 5,131.

The data also shows that this sector of the housing market has grown by 30% in the past year across all areas of the UK, Scotland included. In the UK there are now 117,893 BTR homes across all stages of the development lifecycle, compared to the total of 90,761 homes at the end of Q1 2017.

Even though Scotland currently accounts for just under 3% of the total number of BTR homes, there are signs that this number is set to increase. “In Scotland, there has been a promising boost in the number of BTR homes, with 3,365 homes now at varying stages of the development process. The numbers are still not high in comparison to the rest of the UK, but there are now multiple sites in Glasgow which should act as a spur to other BTR projects across the country,” said David Melhuish, SPF Director.

“BTR is an opportunity and Scotland has some important advantages for attracting the investment necessary – the Rental Income Guarantee Scheme being one and an exemption from the 3 per cent second homes tax for large-scale PRS investments is another. With planning policy guidance now amended to support BTR developments, particularly around the treatment of development viability, there is no reason why we cannot see the BTR sector provide a new catalyst of economic growth in our cities,” he added.

The build-to-rent sector has grown significantly and it can now cater for a wide range of people, including families. Due to their high-quality construction work, they are becoming more and more popular around the UK.