Is it time for UK housing investors to go ‘full residential’?

A blended “full residential” approach across UK housing segments can improve diversification, address changing housing needs and create more resilient private-markets portfolios.

• UK residential demand is driven by urbanisation, migration, population ageing, constrained supply and rising costs for development, refurbishment and operation.
• The English Housing Survey 2024–25 shows that 182,000 new households formed in the private-rented sector last year, while 51,000 households moved into social housing, highlighting the links between tenures.
• Build-to-rent delivery comprised 128,908 apartments and 18,614 houses, volumes that remain below the scale of new household formation in the private-rented sector.
• Aberdeen’s case study for Border to Coast involved approximately £400 million invested in 866 newly built single-family rental homes across 12 locations in South East England, predominantly two- and three-bedroom houses rated EPC A or B.
• The homes target value-seeking families, with rents representing 25%–30% of local average income; one-third of residents work locally, and existing private-rented stock in the locations typically has weaker quality, with 50% rated EPC D or below.

Takeaway: Investors should consider combining private rented, social, student, senior and other residential exposures rather than allocating to isolated niches, while recognising that development viability, local expertise, partnerships and operating capability remain critical.