NHBC, the UK’s largest new homes warranty and insurance provider, recently hosted the second Build to Rent Innovators event in conjunction with the British Property Federation.
Its aim was to bring together the leaders of UK Build to Rent to hear industry updates, learn about the latest developments in Build to Rent and provide a unique networking opportunity.
Held in central London, the event saw over 90 developers, investors, operators, local authorities, and other industry stakeholders gathering to explore Innovation in Place Curation, the evening’s theme.
A broad range of industry stakeholders were in attendance including delegates representing Lloyds Living, Legal & General SBTR, Cortland, Apache Capital, M&G Real Estate, John Lewis Partnership, among many others.
The speakers
Following Build to Rent Sector Lead Niki Kyriacou’s welcome address to delegates, Build to Rent Innovators was opened by keynote speaker Azzees Minott from multi-award-winning social enterprise 2-3 Degrees.
Azzees spoke passionately about the importance of engaging young people with the built environment, discussing everything from the advantage of consulting with youth panels before development, to inspiring young people to join the industry.
As Co-founder and Chief Operations Officer of 2-3 degrees, Azzees is well placed to speak with authority about youth engagement in community developments. Her unique insight into this important aspect of planning and building successful, integrated schemes was a rousing, thoughtful opening to the evening’s presentations.
Next, the audience heard from Richard Valentine-Selsey, Head of European Living Research, and Polly Simpson, Head of Multifamily Development at Savills.
They revealed a myriad of the latest sector statistics and explored the state of the UK Build to Rent market. Key points included that development starts are down 40% since Q3 2022, but that Build to Rent is still contributing to the housing supply which helps at all price points, thanks to the local market ripple effect.
Pleasingly, Build to Rent is improving ‘place’ – half of delivery has come in the three most deprived deciles of rental markets (Lower Layer Super Output Areas – LSOAs).
Another area explored was that of investor Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy and how this can be applied to new community-led developments.
Pecha Kucha
After this, delegates were treated to three sessions, different speakers in the form of Pecha Kuchas. A Pecha Kucha is a strictly timed presentation with a set number of slides each on screen for just 20 seconds. It makes for fast-paced delivery and snappy presentations, as when your time is up, it’s up and you must make way for the next speaker!
The evening’s Pecha Kutcha presenters, Ben Giddens, Director of Development & Masterplanning at The Earls Court Development Company, Sowgol Zarinchang, Managing Director at Way of Life, and Kathryn Pennington, Partner Investment Director at Vistry all performed brilliantly, giving concise, thought-provoking presentations.
Ben Giddens discussed taking a fresh approach to masterplanning, bringing along the local community on the development journey through extensive, in-depth consultation and co-design. He talked about the importance of social impact at a local level and how it roots a new development.
Sowgol Zarinchang talked about repurposing buildings and the Balfron Tower project. The famous building has gone from empty with the lights off, to a vibrant place full of families, couples and students who love where they live.
She spoke of the importance of shared amenity spaces to bring residents together and a grass-roots approach to community events, highlighting the Community Life initiative established on behalf of Long Harbour – partnering with place-based charities nearby to the buildings being managed ie, Living Under One Sun in Tottenham Hale and Bromley on Bow centre.
One of the areas Kathryn Pennington presented about was demand in the sector and how population growth is forecast to be largest in the 25–34-year-old bracket in England. She discussed how many of these people will need to rent a home and this will increase demand on the private rented sector.
Kathryn revealed that this year Vistry will deliver c. 17,500 homes focused on multi-tenure developments, with 65% of their homes built with partners including registered providers, Build to Rent and local authority partners to try to meet housing demand.
A lively Q&A followed, with all the evening’s speakers and presenters fielding a broad range of questions from the audience. NHBC’s Sector Lead for Build to Rent, Niki commented thanked everyone for their support to make the event such a success.
Niki Kyriacou, Sector Lead for Build to Rent, NHBC commented, “I’d like to thank everyone who helped make our second Build to Rent Innovators event such a tremendous success. We welcomed some exceptional speakers to the stage and many of the industry’s most prominent faces as delegates.
“With the ambitious new housing targets announced by the government in the summer, it’s inevitable Build to Rent will play a crucial role in delivery. Increasingly the sector is being recognised as a solution to the shrinking private rented sector, offering quality homes and secure tenancies.
“NHBC works in trusted partnership with the Build to Rent market, helping developers build quality homes right first time. This event gave delegates the opportunity to connect with like-minded professionals from all parts of the sector and we were delighted to host.”
Key takeaways
A broad range of topics were explored over the evening, but some common themes came through:
Good planning is always needed, with local residents always in mind – include multigenerational voices who will span the breadth of housing tenure.
Explore how best to repurpose buildings with ESG factors in mind. Where this is not possible, build in a sustainable and forward-thinking way so quality homes are built at pace.
Build to Rent is for all parts of society and is helping to deliver housing in some of the UK’s most deprived areas.
Infrastructure is key to the wider delivery of housing. This includes community facilities and amenities such as GPs and schools to good transport links and job opportunities.
Bring the existing community with you and make them feel a part of any change so they are not displaced and disenfranchised.
Create an aspirational community with a variety of tenures where there is real inclusivity and a tenure-blind approach, with housing options that can cater to each stage of a person’s life, so they can remain in that community.
We need to invest in a wide range of built environment jobs, including planning officers as well as skilled construction workers, so scaled up, quality housing delivery is achievable.
Delegates commented on the quality of the speakers invited and the opportunity to network both before and after the presentations.
NHBC spoke about how pleased it was to partner with the British Property Federation for this unique event, as both organisations see bringing the sector together as important to their work.
Ian Fletcher, Director of Policy, British Property Federation commented, “We were very pleased to partner with NHBC for the Build to Rent Innovators event for a second year running. The event provided an opportunity to shine a light on who benefits from Build to Rent, and the sector’s investment in communities, jobs, regeneration, and placemaking.
“I’m in no doubt the role of the sector will expand in the coming years, with Build to Rent recognised as an integral part of the multi-tenure mix, and continuing to build on these Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) credentials.”
