New analysis published by the British Property Federation (BPF) shows delivery across the build-to-rent (BTR) sector has slowed in the first quarter, with key pinch-points in the delivery pipeline creating a bottleneck on supply.
The analysis, conducted in collaboration with Savills, found that completions now outpace starts on an annual basis, with the latter now standing at 12,500.
There has been a contraction in the number of homes under construction, down 6 percent compared to first quarter 2023 and down 33 percent from the 2017-2019 pre-COVID average. In London, the fall has been significantly larger at 16 percent, while the regions have fallen by 1 percent.
The slow-down in new starts points to the ongoing challenges in the sector, including build cost inflation and significant planning delays. According to BPF research produced in the previous quarter, 40 percent of BTR sites take at least a year to achieve planning consent.
The total number of BTR