HWO spoke about the PRS model at Homes Olympia on the 17th November 2016. This session took a fresh look at the PRS model and explored current opportunities in planning, branding and design.
It may sound obvious looking back but ‘build to rent’ stars finally aligned with Brexit… As residential sales softened over the summer, developers started looking at new ways of de-risking schemes, which PRS providers such as Fizzy Living deliver through forward-funding. The incoming Mayor of London team signalled a more supportive planning framework, in particular the Discounted Market Rent provision. Local councils are warming up to PRS as a way of leasing public land, deriving an income and retaining ownership. And finally there is a wall of money chasing build to rent opportunities, much of it is long-term and takes a non-cyclical view. So you don’t need a crystal ball to realize every new development in London will soon include (at least) one PRS core as standard. With 60% of Londoners predicted to be in rental by 2025, renting isn’t limited to young professionals. In fact, renting should no longer be considered a second-class choice of tenure by our industry. As property branding specialists DPP point out, the moniker ‘generation rent’ misses the point: renters are ‘consumers of space’.