On 13 December we hosted a roundtable, in partnership with Grainger, to explore whether and how institutional investment could support the housing needs of people on low-to-middle incomes. The roundtable event was attended by a range of stakeholders including institutions, housing associations, landlords, experts and government policy makers. Key barriers to institutional investment included: lower net income returns in comparison to the commercial market; the lack of scale to make sizeable investments; tax impediments; cost of land; planning bureaucracy; management burden and reputational risk that comes from direct investment; lack of familiarity with the residential market; the fact that the eventual sale of the property on the owner-occupier market is worth more than the rental unit. A range of solutions and models were identified that would support further investment. We will be looking into these further over the coming months.
