For example, there is a big shortage of affordable homes in the UK. We need to be building around 150,000 a year but are presently delivering only 45,000-50,000.
Housing associations can improve their deliverability through equity partnerships with private capital.
Such capital requires certainty and predictability of income – inflation-linked rents being the most common.
Government interventions could disturb that certainty, causing this much needed investment to withdraw.
The build-to-rent (BTR) sector has been a driver of better-quality accommodation in the market, as institutional landlords deliver and maintain housing of a high standard.
It is arguable that the social benefits of the BTR market are demonstrable and substantial.
There are plenty of examples from among our membership. One is a recent development of 85 affordable homes in Edinburgh.
They are all built to an energy efficiency rating of EOC-B, to keep bills as low as possible, and the development has solar panels and electric vehicle charging points too.
At the risk of sounding like agency marketing, it is close to a medical centre, a library, tennis courts, supermarkets – and the list goes on.
The development is located in an area where there had historically been very little new homebuilding, limiting the ability of tenants to remain in the area.
If you look at the development’s website and marketing, it is a good job well done. But – and this is not a comment on our member at all – the broader real estate investment industry is less good at selling this story in other quarters.
It is pretty clear we need to get better at measuring and communicating success like this to government and local authorities.
Delivering the right kind of housing
Let us get back to the question in hand: is it time to think about rent regulation?
Should the government commit to rent regulation? They could also work to counterbalance the supply-side regulations that are being inconsistently interpreted and applied across the UK.
Doing this would add certainty and encourage additional investment in much-needed housing.
This is also a major impediment to delivery of new stock.
A better understanding of the BTR use-class could help ensure the right product is delivered at the right price point for the locale.
In their desire for more social housing, councils demanding too high a proportion of social homes in a project simply kill the economics for that project.
