Material Source brings Manchester’s property voices together to ask, what’s next for build-to-rent? Jasper Sanders joins industry leaders to examine the changing landscape of the city’s BTR market.

Material Source brought together a group of leading voices from across Manchester’s residential development, design and construction sectors for a roundtable exploring the current state of Build to Rent, and how the market is responding to rising costs, tighter regulation, changing expectations and a more challenging investment landscape. Chaired by Material Source Studio Director David Smalley, the discussion considered whether Manchester’s BTR market was experiencing a temporary correction or a more fundamental reset.

The conversation acknowledged significant pressures across the sector, with viability emerging as a central theme. Rising land and construction costs, stagnant wages, capped rental values, planning delays and Gateway 2 are creating an increasingly difficult equation for developers and investors. As Katie Rudin of Akerlof observed, “There is a real structural change happening”, while Daniel Bishop of JB+CO noted that viability is now driving decisions where previously BTR schemes could more readily “stack up”.

The group also explored how amenity is changing in response. Matt Pickering of Arcadis suggested that high-end facilities such as pools and spas are becoming less common, with greater emphasis on flexible, multipurpose spaces. Lucy Tindall of PRP similarly stressed the importance of creating homes that people can both use and afford.

Jasper Sanders highlighted a broader redefinition of luxury within this changing market. “The real luxury might now be an environment that genuinely helps you recover,” he suggested. He also questioned whether conventional value engineering can address the fundamental viability challenge facing BTR. With rental values reaching a ceiling while costs continue to rise, Jasper argued, “You can’t value engineer yourself out of it.” The challenge, he suggested, is that residents’ expectations of quality and amenity have continued to rise, while their ability to pay has not.

Jasper drew a parallel with the slowdown in Purpose-Built Student Accommodation, where he has seen development volumes fall sharply. “There’s a cap. Cost of living crisis. Wages have stagnated. No one has more money,” he observed. Meanwhile, the ambition for increasingly sophisticated interiors and amenity continues to grow, making the balance between aspiration, affordability and return increasingly difficult to achieve.

Modern Methods of Construction formed another strand of the conversation. Katie Rudin described growing demand for greater certainty around how schemes will be delivered following Gateway 2, while Jasper reflected on the longer-term potential of MMC to address skills shortages within construction. Factory-based environments, he suggested, could provide a more attractive way of nurturing and retaining skills that have been lost through successive economic downturns.

Despite the challenges, the discussion ended on a distinctly more positive note. John Williams of SpaceInvader suggested the industry may be “towards the end” of the prolonged period of uncertainty that followed 2008, while Lucy Tindall argued that greater familiarity with Gateway 2 is already helping to restore confidence.

Jasper shared that optimism, suggesting Manchester could be “three or four-years away from a more positive outlook, potentially even a boom”. He pointed to the city’s consistency of political and development vision over several decades, and its ability to create a virtuous circle of inward investment through sustained investment in housing, hospitality, public realm and architecture.

“Manchester has managed to put a lot of high-quality architecture, housing, hospitality, restaurants and public realm into a relatively compact city centre,” he said. “The quality of the built environment becomes a signal that the city is serious about its future.”
For Jasper, this consistency has helped Manchester maintain confidence even through difficult economic conditions. “Manchester has created confidence by building confidence,” he concluded.

The roundtable’s final assessment was that Manchester’s residential market is stabilising and beginning to move upwards, offering cautious optimism after several challenging years.

Read the full article in Material Source.