The Living Sector: Capital, Opportunity & The Road Ahead
Capital, Opportunity
& The Road Ahead
The UK Living Sector has become one of the most compelling arenas in real estate. From Build to Rent to Later Living, each sub-sector tells a different story — but all share the same foundation: chronic undersupply, shifting demographics, and institutional capital that is only beginning to understand the opportunity.
The term “Living Sector” has moved from industry jargon to shorthand for one of the most significant shifts in how UK real estate is owned, developed, and operated. It encompasses every asset class where the end-user is a resident rather than an occupier in the commercial sense — and it sits at the intersection of two of the most powerful forces shaping the UK economy: a housing crisis and an ageing population.
What unites these diverse asset classes is institutional capital. A decade ago, the idea that pension funds, sovereign wealth vehicles, and global asset managers would compete for blocks of rental apartments, student accommodation, or retirement villages at scale was niche. Today, it defines the market. The Living Sector now attracts well over £20 billion of investment annually when aggregated across all sub-sectors, and that figure is growing.
For capital markets advisors, investment surveyors, and valuation professionals, the opportunity is without precedent — but so is the complexity. Each sub-sector has its own operating model, regulatory environment, valuation methodology, and risk profile. The professionals who will define the next decade of UK real estate are those who understand not just one corner of the Living Sector, but how the whole landscape fits together.
| Sub-sector 01 | Build to Rent | Institutional multifamily & single family housing for rent |
| Sub-sector 02 | Student Housing (PBSA) | Purpose-built student accommodation, university & private |
| Sub-sector 03 | Co-living | Managed shared living for young professionals & urban renters |
| Sub-sector 04 | Later Living | Retirement communities, assisted living & care |
| Sub-sector 05 | Affordable Housing | Shared ownership, social rent & affordable rent delivery |
Build to Rent (BTR) refers to purpose-built residential developments designed from the outset to be rented rather than sold. Unlike the traditional private rented sector — dominated by individual buy-to-let landlords — BTR is the domain of institutional capital: pension funds, sovereign wealth vehicles, global asset managers, and specialist living operators who build at scale, manage professionally, and hold long-term.
The UK model operates across two distinct sub-sectors. Multifamily BTR describes large apartment blocks, typically in urban cores, offering a curated amenity package — concierge, gym, roof terrace, co-working — with rents commanding a premium for quality, flexibility, and security. Single Family Housing (SFH), the newer and now dominant strand by investment volume, covers suburban houses and low-rise cottage flats, built to rent for families who can no longer afford to buy.
The investment case is structural. There are still approximately 30% fewer homes to rent across the UK compared to 2018–19 averages, and that imbalance has barely budged despite successive years of record delivery. BTR has grown from less than 1% of new housing delivery a decade ago to roughly 10% today. At full maturity, the sector could comprise 30–35% of the private rental market, implying a need for 1.7 million BTR homes.
“Since 2016, around £34 billion has been invested in acquiring or funding BTR assets in the UK. The last four years alone broke successive records. This is no longer a niche — it is a structural pillar of UK housing.”
For capital markets and investment surveyors operating in BTR, the past eighteen months have been defined by one dynamic: a growing pool of capital chasing limited investable stock. Investment volumes broke all records in 2024, surpassing £5 billion for the first time. The milestone was driven by a bumper Q4 — a pattern now firmly established, with Q4 representing the largest share of annual investment in three of the last four years.
74–79% of 2024–25 transactions funded future development rather than acquiring stabilised assets. Forward-fund and forward-commit structures dominate deal flow.
Savills received over £5.2 billion of bids in H1 2025 alone for Multifamily and SFH development funding — a more timely measure of appetite than completed transactions.
More than half of all BTR investment originates overseas, led by North American institutional capital, with growing contributions from Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Single Family Housing captured 59% of all BTR investment in 2025, up from just 7% in 2021–22. Bulk portfolio deals with housebuilders have driven this structural shift.
The landscape for investment surveyors is nuanced. While capital is abundant and bidder numbers are rising, the supply of quality, investable assets remains constrained. New starts have lagged completions for eight consecutive quarters. London’s construction pipeline has contracted sharply — new starts fell 93% between 2022 and 2025, with 23 of the capital’s 32 boroughs recording zero BTR starts last year.
Yield compression is the dominant conversation in BTR capital markets. Having expanded through the 2022–23 rate-hiking cycle, yields stabilised in 2024 and the direction is now firmly inward. Falling base rates improve the net initial yield spread over the risk-free rate, bringing more buyers to the table. CBRE identified approximately £3.8 billion of assets under offer in late 2025, with 60% weighted toward multifamily.
The emergence of Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS) as a major investor class is the story that will define the next decade. The acquisition of PRS REIT by Northern LGPS and Local Pensions Partnership — the largest single BTR transaction on record — signals that domestic institutional capital is beginning to match overseas ambition. If LGPS funds allocated 15% of assets to real estate, an estimated £45 billion of additional capital could enter UK real estate, with residential as a central component.
For valuation surveyors, BTR presents both rich opportunity and genuine complexity. The sector’s relative youth means comparable evidence remains thin in many markets. Valuers must exercise greater judgement, triangulate across a broader range of evidence, and often lean on income-based approaches where operating metrics — occupancy, effective rent, lease-up trajectory — carry significant weight.
Gross residential yields range from ~4.9% in London to ~7.6% in the North East. BTR-specific investment yields require careful adjustment for professional management and covenant strength.
UK rents (ex-London) rose 5.9% YoY to September 2024, down from 9.3% the prior year. Valuers must now model a normalising rental growth curve.
Royal Assent October 2025. Abolishes fixed-term tenancies and Section 21. Valuers must assess how this alters income certainty and management cost loadings.
Rent controls (Sept 2022–Apr 2025) caused BTR starts to fall 65%. The BTR exemption should restore confidence — but illustrates how regulatory risk must be modelled explicitly.
Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) is where UK institutional residential investment began. Long before BTR or Co-living entered the mainstream lexicon, student housing was attracting sovereign wealth funds, US private equity, and listed REITs at scale. Today the sector is one of the most globally traded real estate asset classes, with over 700,000 operational beds in the UK and investment volumes that routinely exceed £5 billion per annum.
The structural demand case is unimpeachable. UK universities are among the most sought-after in the world. International student numbers reached over 760,000 in 2023/24. The supply-demand gap is acute: for every bed in a purpose-built scheme, there are an estimated two to three students competing for it in major university cities.
The PBSA market bifurcates between university-nominated schemes (long-term lease, lower risk, lower yield) and direct-let stock (exposed to leasing market, higher operational intensity, higher yield). The majority of institutional investment targets the direct-let segment, where operational excellence drives rental premiums and occupancy resilience.
For capital markets professionals, the key dynamic is the compression of prime yields against rising rents. Prime London PBSA yields have moved inside 4.5% for highest-quality assets, while regional prime sits in the 5.0–5.75% range.
For valuation surveyors, PBSA demands an understanding of rental licensing models, ANUK codes of practice, lease vs. nomination agreement structures, and the distinction between income from rooms and income from clusters or studios.
For investment surveyors, PBSA offers one of the deepest pools of transaction liquidity in the Living Sector. Major portfolio deals, single-asset acquisitions, development funding mandates, and university partnership structures are all active areas of deal flow.
For valuation professionals, PBSA is arguably the most technically demanding sub-sector in the Living Sector. The interplay between room-level income, nomination agreements, management structures, and building safety obligations creates a valuation environment where methodology is rarely straightforward. Valuers with genuine PBSA expertise command significant premiums.
Co-living — purpose-built shared residential accommodation for adults, typically young urban professionals — has spent the better part of a decade on the fringes of mainstream real estate investment. In 2025 and 2026, that is changing. The asset class is attracting growing institutional attention, with dedicated vehicles from operators like The Collective, Folk, and Vonder, and increasing interest from investors who recognise the structural gap between the cost of renting an apartment and the affordability ceiling of the target demographic.
The Co-living model typically involves studio-format private rooms with ensuite bathroom, combined with generously scaled shared amenity — commercial-grade kitchens, lounges, event space, gym, cinema rooms — all managed by a single operator on all-inclusive rental terms. Leases are typically short (3–12 months) and the product is designed for renters who value flexibility, community, and convenience over space.
The UK Co-living market remains relatively nascent compared to its North American or Asia-Pacific counterparts, with approximately 25,000 beds operational or under development as of early 2026. London dominates, but Bristol, Manchester, and Birmingham are emerging markets where Co-living economics are beginning to work as land values align more favourably.
The planning environment for Co-living has historically been one of its greatest barriers. Most schemes require sui generis planning consents, and local planning authorities have taken inconsistent approaches to density and amenity standards.
For valuers, Co-living sits in a genuinely complex methodological space. The income model does not map neatly onto either BTR or PBSA comparable frameworks. Valuers must understand occupancy dynamics, lease-up curves, and all-inclusive billing structures.
The structural demand case for Co-living is compelling. The gap between median salary growth and rental costs in major cities is widening, and the proportion of single-person households seeking high-quality, managed accommodation has never been larger. The investment opportunity is early-stage but growing — investors who can work through the planning complexity and deploy patient capital will find a product with strong operating margins and growing rental premiums over equivalent HMO stock.
The UK Later Living market — encompassing age-exclusive retirement communities, assisted living, extra care, and care homes — represents perhaps the largest single structural opportunity in the entire Living Sector. The demographic foundation is irrefutable: the UK population aged over 75 is projected to double to over 9 million by 2050. The number of purpose-built Later Living units in operation today is a fraction of what is needed.
That is changing. The combination of falling interest rates, government-level recognition of the housing benefit that later living communities deliver, and a growing body of operator expertise has brought a new wave of institutional attention. McCarthy Stone, Legal & General, Inspired Villages, and Audley Group are among the operators who have made the case for a professionalised, institutional-grade model — and investors are starting to respond.
The UK delivers fewer Later Living units per capita than virtually any comparable developed economy. Australia delivers five times as many retirement village units per head. The structural gap is estimated at over 500,000 units relative to demographic need.
The Later Living investment model operates differently from other sub-sectors. Many schemes rely on deferred management charges (DMCs) — an exit fee structure charged on resale — which creates a deferred but substantial income stream. Understanding and stress-testing DMC assumptions is one of the most technically challenging aspects of Later Living appraisal work.
Rental models are also gaining ground, particularly for assisted living and extra care products. For capital markets professionals, the rental model is easier to underwrite; for valuers, it introduces questions around care income, CQC compliance, and the regulatory framework governing care provision.
Affordable housing sits at the heart of the UK’s housing crisis. With an estimated 3.5 million household deficit across all tenures, and social housing waiting lists exceeding 1.3 million households, the government’s target to deliver 1.5 million homes across the current Parliament depends heavily on the affordable housing component of every major development.
The sector has traditionally been the domain of Registered Providers (RPs) — housing associations and local authorities — with institutional capital providing debt rather than equity. That model is evolving. The financial pressures facing RPs have created a growing appetite for alternative structures: forward-purchase, nomination agreements, lease-and-leaseback, and equity joint ventures between institutional investors and RPs.
Shared Ownership — where buyers purchase a 10–75% share of a home and pay rent on the remainder — has become one of the most active areas of institutional investment in affordable housing. The reform of the shared ownership model has made the product more attractive to buyers and more investable for institutions.
For capital markets professionals, the shared ownership investment model offers a distinctive income profile: a blend of rental income, staircasing proceeds, and eventual full sale or re-let. Understanding long-term cashflow dynamics and stress-testing staircasing assumptions is central to the investment case.
For valuation surveyors, affordable housing presents specific methodological considerations. The EUV-S methodology for social housing, Depreciated Replacement Cost approach, and market value subject to tenancy framework all require distinct skills.
Over 64,000 BTR homes sit with planning permission but have not started on site. As borrowing costs ease and build cost inflation moderates, converting these consents into funded starts will be the single largest source of near-term deal flow. Investors who can offer competitive forward-fund structures to developers sitting on consented land will move first.
As universities face financial pressure and capital constraints, the demand for private capital partners willing to develop, own, and manage on-campus accommodation under long-term nomination agreements is growing. These structures offer lower risk, index-linked income, and long hold periods — ideal for pension fund capital seeking liability-matched returns.
The Later Living sector’s most significant constraint is not demand or land — it is equity capital willing to accept the development and lease-up risk of a complex operational product. Specialist investors who can underwrite this risk will find a market with exceptionally limited competition and a structural demand story that can last decades.
The government’s agenda to redirect Local Government Pension Scheme capital into UK productive assets could be transformational across all Living Sector sub-sectors. Advisory teams who build relationships with LGPS pools and can structure appropriate vehicles will be central to a wave of mandates that has barely begun.
The forward-purchase of large tranches of new homes from housebuilders — de-risking their sales exposure — is the dominant SFH investment structure. As housebuilders face ongoing sales market uncertainty, the pipeline of these transactions is growing. Advisors who understand both sides of the economics will originate the best deals.
Across every Living Sector sub-sector, the demand for specialist valuation expertise significantly exceeds supply. Lender panels, fund reporting requirements, acquisition mandates, and monitoring surveyor roles are all growing. The valuers who invest in genuine cross-sector Living Sector expertise will be in the strongest position in UK real estate — full stop.
As Registered Providers face tightening finances, the appetite for institutional equity partners — structured through forward-purchase, lease arrangements, or joint ventures — is growing. For patient capital with an ESG mandate, affordable housing offers government-backed demand, index-linked rents, and social impact credentials increasingly valued by institutions.
The Living Sector’s structural investment case has never been stronger. The UK faces a housing shortage that cannot be resolved without institutional capital at scale — across tenure types, demographics, and geographies. The retreat of small-scale buy-to-let landlords is removing stock from the private rental market at exactly the moment when population growth and household formation are increasing demand.
The regulatory environment will remain a key variable. The Renters’ Rights Act’s impact on BTR income modelling, the ongoing evolution of PBSA planning policy, Scotland’s rent control reversal, the care sector’s CQC regulatory framework, and the political sensitivity of affordable housing delivery are all areas where policy will shape investment returns. Professionals who develop genuine regulatory literacy will be essential partners for investors.
Capital availability is improving. Falling base rates, the emergence of LGPS as a domestic investor class, and the growing sophistication of institutional platforms across all Living Sector sub-sectors are creating the most favourable capital environment in five years. The constraint is not capital — it is deployable opportunity. New starts are lagging across BTR and PBSA. Later Living delivery is a fraction of demographic need. The gap between available capital and investable assets will drive the advisory and origination work that defines the next market cycle.
“The professionals who will lead the next decade of UK Living Sector investment are those who understand not one asset class, but the whole ecosystem — how capital flows across sub-sectors, how demographics shape demand, and how to value assets that the market has not yet fully priced.”
For capital markets and investment surveyors, this is a generational opportunity to build a practice at the centre of the most active and fastest-growing segment of UK real estate. For valuation surveyors, the depth of expertise required — and the current shortage of professionals who possess it — means that Living Sector specialists are among the most sought-after in the profession. The market is moving fast. The opportunity is now.
At SONDR, we work exclusively with capital markets, investment, and valuation professionals across the full UK Living Sector. Whether you are building a specialist team, seeking your next move within BTR, PBSA, Later Living, or Affordable Housing, or looking to understand where your experience is most valued in the market — we would like to hear from you. The sector is growing faster than the talent pool. We are here to close that gap.
| Build to Rent | Capital markets, investment, development advisory, valuation, asset management |
| Student Housing | Acquisition, portfolio management, development funding, valuation |
| Co-living | Emerging sector specialists, operator advisory, investment roles |
| Later Living | Development, operations, investment, valuation and care advisory |
| Affordable Housing | RP partnerships, shared ownership, investment and development roles |