June is officially National Homeownership Month, but for many, it feels more like a month of window shopping. With the average deposit required to buy a home skyrocketing out of reach for most, first time buyers are having to get seriously creative with how they secure their first rung on the property ladder. Instead of waiting for a miracle, savvy buyers are rewriting the rulebook. Owning a stake in your home, whether that’s through a 25% Shared Ownership property or by exercising your Right to Buy your council home, is infinitely better than owning 0% of a rental home. From hunting down bargain-priced ‘doer-uppers’ at auction to utilising alternative lending, it’s time to stop waiting for the ‘perfect’ 100% traditional mortgage dream and start looking at the alternative routes that can get you the keys to your first home. Ryan Etchells, Chief Commercial Officer at Together, the specialist mortgage lender, shares his top tips to help hopeful renters and FTBs get on the property ladder this summer:  The biggest mistake first-time buyers make is looking at the total property price and panicking. When you’re trying to save while renting, huge house prices can make homeownership feel totally out of reach. For example, if a house is £300,000, you don’t need a massive £30,000 upfront. Through Shared Ownership, you buy a portion you can actually afford—usually 25% to 75%—and pay a subsidised rent on the rest. This means a 10% deposit on a 25% share of that £300K home is slashed to just £7,500. Best of all? This isn’t just ‘part-renting’ forever. It unlocks a process called ‘staircasing’ where, as your salary grows, you can buy more shares until you can potentially own the whole property. You’re building your own long-term wealth and turning those monthly payments into an investment in your own future instead of someone else’s. For those willing to be a bit more adventurous, and who want to bypass the fierce competition of the traditional first-time buyer market, the auction room can uncover hidden gems. You might think houses under the hammer are all run-down “problem properties,” but they often offer a golden chance for newbies to secure a home way below market value and create a unique space entirely to your taste. There is also a clever investment play here; by flipping the property—renovating it and selling it on—you can potentially make a serious profit that provides a larger deposit for your ultimate forever home. However, auctions are a high-stakes “sprint” finish that can catch first-timers off guard. When the hammer goes down, you have effectively exchanged contracts and are legally obliged to complete. You’ll need a 10% deposit on the day and typically only 28 days to pay the balance in full. If you miss that deadline, you lose your deposit and the property, which is a nightmare scenario. That’s why having specialist “auction finance” ready to go is the only way to step into the auction room and bid with absolute confidence. When you are trying to buy alone, the numbers can feel incredibly restrictive. But who says you have to do it solo? Savvy buyers are increasingly pooling their resources. Some specialist lenders will allow up to four applicants to join forces on a single mortgage, meaning you could buy with friends or siblings to get that first crucial foothold on the ladder.  If you’ve been renting from a local authority, council, or housing association, you could be sitting on a major discount without even realising it. The Right to Buy scheme is one of the most overlooked shortcuts to homeownership for current renters. Depending on how long you’ve lived there, you could qualify for a substantial discount on the property’s actual market value. The real game-changer here? Specialist lenders can often use that built-in council discount as your deposit. This means you could potentially buy the very roof over your head with zero cash deposit required upfront. You get to keep the home you already know, entirely skip the stress and cost of moving day, and instantly swap paying rent for building your own equity. Many “Generation Renters” don’t even bother applying for a mortgage because they think their situation is too “complex” to ever be accepted. This could mean you’re a freelancer, a side-hustler with two part-time jobs, or carrying a minor credit blip from years ago. When you’re trying to buy your first home, high-street banks use rigid computers that love to say “no,” especially when an applicant doesn’t match their ‘one size fits all’ standard. But don’t give up hope. On the other hand, specialist lenders, like Together, look at the real human behind the paperwork and support first-time buyers keen to make the next step. Don’t let a ‘non-standard’ life stop you from landing the keys to your very first place. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

Average rents in Bristol have fallen by 3.8% and rental properties are taking longer to let, according to a new report released as the Renters’ Rights Act comes into force. But rental platform Rentaroof has warned the slowdown may only be temporary rather than a sign of lasting affordability, with similar reforms in the Netherlands leading to a major reduction in available rental homes after landlords exited the market. Rentaroof says the Q1 2026 figures provide an important baseline for measuring the long-term impact of the Renters’ Rights Act on Bristol’s rental market over the next 12 months, in terms of rental supply, pricing and landlord behaviour. Key findings from the report include: The average monthly rent in Bristol now stands at £1,464, down from £1,522 during the same period in 2025. Apartment and flat rents, which make up Bristol’s largest rental category, recorded the biggest shift, falling by 3.6% (£57) year-on-year to an average of £1,514. In contrast, rents for houses and rooms both increased slightly by 0.6%, with the average house now costing £2,009 per month and rooms averaging £657. Five districts’ prices were analysed in the report and all recorded overall price reductions, with Bristol City Centre experiencing the sharpest fall at 10.9%. Rentaroof says the area’s high concentration of flats appears to have amplified the slowdown within the apartment market. Despite this, the City Centre still commands some of Bristol’s highest rents, reflecting the continued premium attached to central living. As the previous year, Horfield tracked as the most expensive district, with average rents of £1,802. It also recorded the smallest decline at just 1.6%, suggesting demand has remained resilient at the upper end of the market. Fishponds – the third most expensive district – saw rents fall by 8.7%, bringing average monthly costs to £1,437. At the more affordable end of the market, Bedminster recorded an 8.5% drop to £1,171 per month, while Easton saw rents fall 5.2% to an average of £1,103. The average time rental properties remain on the market in Bristol has also increased over the past year, rising from 25 days to 31 days. Redcliffe and Montpelier are currently the city’s fastest-moving areas, with homes letting in around 18 to 19 days on average, while Bristol City Centre has become one of the slowest markets at 43 days. Time-to-let analysis also included Southville (23 days) and Northville (41 days). Despite the slowdown, properties across Bristol are still typically letting within around six weeks, suggesting overall tenant demand remains active. Commenting on the findings, Jasper de Groot, CEO of Rentaroof UK, said: “Britain is heading in the same direction as the Netherlands when it comes to rental reform, and the warning signs are already there. “In the Netherlands, similar changes led to a sharp reduction in rental supply as landlords and investors exited the market. Around 12.5% of the total private rental stock, equating to more than 80,000 homes, were eventually sold off and removed from the sector. “In Bristol, we’re already seeing rents soften and properties taking longer to let, particularly in flat-heavy areas such as the City Centre. “We also expect landlord behaviour to change significantly under the Renters’ Rights Act. In high-demand areas such as Redcliffe and Montpelier, landlords are likely to increase advertised rents upfront because they will no longer be able to rely on above-asking bidding to achieve higher final rents. “The bigger concern is supply. International evidence suggests rental stock is likely to decline over time if landlords continue exiting the market. “The latest English Private Landlord Survey already shows 31% of landlords are planning to reduce their portfolios, suggesting supply pressures could intensify over the coming years. “If supply continues to tighten, today’s softer conditions could eventually reverse and place upward pressure on rents again.” Rent changes impact around a quarter of Bristol’s households, and student-friendly listings now account for 36.6% of Bristol’s rental supply, above the UK average of 31.1%, reflecting the city’s large student population and concentration of shared accommodation. Rentaroof says this also impacts Bristol’s overall rental averages, as a significant proportion of the market is made up of lower-cost room and shared-property stock. Rentaroof is a UK rental search and alert platform designed to help renters find and secure properties in competitive markets. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

A poll of industry professionals attending a Future Homes Standard (FHS) webinar held by heat network experts, Power On, reveals that 25% of respondents believe the biggest challenge in delivering homes compliant with the new FHS is technical and compliance uncertainty.      The poll asked:  With the first aspects of the FHS coming into force on 24th March 2027, there is clearly a long way still to go for the industry to be ready. Timelines and requirements for planning and local authorities are seen as a challenge by one in five (21%) of those polled. With this and the uncertainty surrounding technical and compliance requirements, Power On is encouraging the industry to act sooner rather than later to prepare for the FHS.   Neil Fitzsimons, Managing Director for Power On, says: “It is easy to be lulled into the false sense of security that the FHS is still a year away. In fact, the industry needs to be acting now to embrace the transition to net zero. Solutions like networked heat are already being delivered in the UK and we encourage builders and developers to look at these now so that they are already on the road to delivering FHS compliant homes.”    The FHS is a major update to England’s Building Regulations designed to ensure new homes produce 75–80% less carbon than those built under 2013 standards. It covers low-carbon heating, fabric performance, ventilation, and renewables, and forms part of the UK’s commitment to reaching net zero by 2050.  Whilst the FHS does not specifically state what can and cannot be used to heat homes, it shifts solutions away from individual, carbon-intensive systems towards networked, low-carbon heat solutions. To meet the targets, oil, gas, biomass, CHP and (arguably) direct electric heaters are almost certainly impossible. The solutions likely to be implemented and already being delivered include low carbon heat networks, centralised heat pumps, ambient loop systems, individual air source heat pumps (planning permission depending) and systems designed for future network connection.  More information is available from: www.poweron-uk.co.uk/heat-networks/  Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

Prime Phenix has acquired a major development site at 96-102 The Broadway, West Ealing, in a transaction brokered by GLPG’s Agency team, with GLPG’s Capital Advisory team also securing the development facility for the purchaser to deliver the scheme. The site was sold by Luxgrove Capital Partners. The prominent Uxbridge Road site benefits from detailed planning consent for a £90 million GDV co-living scheme comprising 268 bedrooms (Use Class: C1 Apart-Hotel), alongside substantial amenity space and facilities, including a roof terrace. The 0.5-acre site, bounded by Singapore Road and The Broadway, has remained vacant since the demolition of the four-storey Woolworths department store in 2019. The original building was constructed in 1926 and traded until Woolworths’ nationwide closure in 2008. Construction is expected to commence imminently, according to Dr Amir Naghsh, CEO of Prime Phenix, which is behind developments including Stirling Works on Bollo Lane, Acton and Oak Place in Slough. Dr Amir Naghsh, commented: “West Ealing is exactly the type of opportunity we look to acquire at Prime Phenix – a prominent and well-connected site in a highly active London location with the scale and profile to deliver a standout scheme. Our integrated team enables us to take a scheme like this from acquisition through to completion with confidence, and construction is set to commence imminently. The development represents a significant regeneration opportunity for this part of The Broadway and will deliver a high-quality project that we believe will make a lasting positive impact on the area.  “GLPG played an important role throughout the process, both in sourcing the opportunity and arranging the development funding with Zorin Finance and we are pleased to have Zorin alongside us for the delivery of the scheme.” GLPG, a leading multidisciplinary real estate group based in Marylebone, played a key role in both the disposal of the site and the financing of the project. Dean Leslie, Director at GLPG, said: “Large scale consented co-living opportunities of this quality rarely come to market in London, so from the outset we knew this was a transaction that would require a huge amount of work behind the scenes to get over the line. “There were a lot of moving parts across both the sale and financing, and credit should go to everyone involved for staying commercial and solution focused throughout the process. “What made this scheme particularly compelling was the combination of planning consent, scale and location. West Ealing has been transformed in recent years by the Elizabeth line and wider regeneration, and we continue to see strong demand from both investors and lenders for high quality living sector opportunities in well-connected London locations.” West Ealing is currently undergoing significant regeneration, with several major residential and mixed-use developments approved along The Broadway and the surrounding area. William McKenna, Director at Luxgrove Capital Partners, adds: “This sale marks a major step forward in the continued regeneration of West Ealing. The development will transform a long vacant site into a vibrant new co-living destination, helping to attract new residents, businesses and investment into the area.” The site occupies a prominent position within a five-minute walk of West Ealing’s restaurants, shops, supermarkets and gyms, as well as West Ealing station and the Elizabeth line. GLPG’s Capital Advisory team, led by Nick Swerner, acted as debt advisers on the project. Zorin Finance is providing funding for the development. Nick Swerner, Director at GLPG Capital Advisory, said: “Getting a transaction like this funded takes far more than simply introducing a lender. It requires detailed involvement throughout the process, understanding how to navigate issues as they arise and keeping momentum between all parties from start to finish. “Prime Phenix and Zorin Finance were excellent to work with throughout and together we were able to deliver a facility for what we believe will become one of the standout co-living schemes in West London.” Anthony Raud, Head of Development Finance Origination at Zorin Finance, comments: “We are thrilled to be supporting Prime Phenix on what will be a landmark scheme. The Prime Phenix team brings strong delivery capabilities, while the amenities, location and connectivity will be highly attractive to residents. “The Zorin Finance team remains committed to providing flexible funding solutions to address the ongoing undersupply of living sector stock across the UK.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals