The UK’s Build to Rent (BTR) market has attracted more than £3 billion in investments in the first nine months of 2025, reflecting robust growth despite economic challenges.
According to Knight Frank, the sector’s momentum is holding strong, with a 35% year-on-year increase in investment volumes in the third quarter alone, reaching £850 million.
The global property consultancy also says that the performance builds on an already impressive first half of the year, where £2.2 billion was channelled into BTR projects.
It adds that single-family housing (SFH) has been a standout, making up 58% of transactions in Q3 and 62% year-to-date.
Strong appetite for BTR
The firm’s head of BTR research, Lizzie Breckner, said: “Investment volumes have proven resilient in the face of macro challenges, reflecting the strong appetite for purpose-built rental stock.
“It’s particularly encouraging to see a strong quarter for multi-family investment, which we expect will pick up further.
“Persistently high inflation and bond yields are likely to put a dampener on activity for the remainder of the year, as will an element of policy uncertainty in the run-up to the November Budget.”
Jack Hutchinson, a Partner in the residential investments team, said: “Investor appetite remains strong for both single-family and multi-family assets.
“However, within the multifamily space, challenges around construction viability persist, resulting in greater liquidity for operational assets.
“In the SFH sector particularly, transaction volumes have remained high for funding deals and, to an extent, operational stock as the market matures.”
Tough housebuilding market
The firm’s report reveals that by value, single-family housing accounted for 40% of investments in the third quarter.
That was driven by a tough sales market for housebuilders which has opened doors for BTR investors to snap up high-quality residential properties.
Meanwhile, urban multi-family schemes saw more than £500 million in funding during the same period, reflecting strong demand for large-scale developments.
However, the consultancy notes that challenges in construction viability have tempered further growth.
The BTR market is also evolving, with a growing number of completed and operational properties changing hands.
So far this year, seven operational multi-family deals have been finalised, while the total number of deals across single-, multi-family and co-living schemes reached 53.
That’s an 8% rise compared to last year.