Constrained Supply and High Housing Demand: The Case for Affordable BTR During the Cost of Living Crisis

The need for new homes Homes for Scotland has estimated the need for 25,000 new homes each year to meet current housing demand. Construction on this scale has not been seen since 2007 in the build-up to the global financial crisis, with the 5-year average currently at c. 19,500. During the cost of living crisis, …

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Rising Buy-to-Let Costs Are New Risk to Private Rental Market

Rising rents have dominated discussion in the Scottish housing market throughout 2022. It has been enough for the government to push through emergency legislation to freeze them and restrict landlords’ ability to take possession of their properties. On the other hand, very little is written about the impact increased costs that buy-to-let landlords are facing …

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Make Do and Mend: Tenements

The concept of ‘make do and mend’ was coined during WWII by the British Ministry of Information, designed to help housewives repair, reuse and reimagine clothes during rationing. It’s an outdated concept in the modern day, but it’s a useful reminder today of what individuals can do as part of a wider effort by the …

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BTR Can Rejuvenate Communities and Urban Centres

Edinburgh and Glasgow both have a significant number of brownfield sites (previously developed land, often for industrial use). Many of these sites tend to be well located, obsolete and underutilised ‘gaps’ across our cities that require significant amounts of investment to support renewed urban regeneration. These, now vacant sites, have remained undeveloped for long periods …

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The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term lets) Order 2022 – What Do You Need to Know?

The significant increase in short-term holiday lets within Edinburgh and throughout the country has led to the Scottish Government legislating as a means to control this element of the rental market under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term lets) Order 2022. While the Licensing Order was brought into force in March 2022 …

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The Collective Living Concept

To those involved in the explosive growth of the Residential Investment Sector in the UK, with the (long) overdue entry to the market of institutional investment, it has become increasingly clear there are opportunities for new and innovative forms of residential rental accommodation. These concepts can maximise affordability for tenants, while retaining quality of operation …

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